Innocence
by z0mb3xor
Summary: What if Clementine was still eight when she met the cabin survivors? What fates could be changed because of this? Also, how do they react when Clementine starts to have nightmares that cause her to freak out during sleep... and she can't remember what happened in them? Clem's eight and Lee lives. Warning! This story takes a seriously dark turn around chapter five.
1. Introduction

**Hey fans and say hello to my next 'What If?' story. Recently I had read a story (Sympathy) where Clementine was at a younger age when Pete and Luke found her. After some time (in my opinion, you might like it) it started to get really weird. But hey, who cares about one writer's opinion anyway right? Anyway… so this is basically similar to that where Clementine is still eight years old when she meets Pete and Luke. But I will not have it turn out the same way. Notable changes to main storyline.**

**1: Clementine meets the cabin survivors at age eight.**

**2: Nick's mother is still alive.**

**3: Carver is not after them (again) in this story, but the cabin crew don't know this.**

**4: Both Christa and Omid are not with Clementine at the start.**

**5: Lee failed to find Clementine.**

**6: Regarding the above change, Lee is alive.**

**7: Because he failed to find her some fates will be changed.**

**8: Carley is alive because both she and Doug were saved, Doug sacrificing himself when Lily went wack.**

**9: There will be a new sadistic villain in this story.**

**This is quite a bit of change from the original story but why the hell not? It is mine. Don't like it? Make your own and go fucking ballistic. One thing I've noticed about my 'What If?' stories is they're both T because I was hoping to be less graphic with violence, sex, swearing but this will not be the case. I will not be kind to my characters. I'm sorry but it's the apocalypse. Also, I can't wait for the sadistic villain part. I want to make fellow readers really feel hatred for him.**


	2. Scared & Alone

**Well here we go. Enough chit chat let's just get it underway.**

**Clementine**

After I had stabbed the stranger who had kidnapped me I never stopped running. He let his guard down and didn't tie me up properly. I took advantage and stabbed his chest. The look in his eyes as he watched his blood seep from his wound was savage, angry, upset, forgiving? He almost looked as if he felt sorry for capturing me. Most likely because he regretted his decision to capture me alive. I cried when I'd managed to feel safe enough distance from where I killed the man. I felt my hair and cried even harder. Lee had my hat but he never found me. Did he even try to? Is he on some island sipping martinis? I slapped myself for thinking of such things.

"Stop that! Lee loved you as his own. Stop thinking such thoughts." I slapped myself again which surprisingly worked. I managed to stop crying. I pulled out the gun I'd nabbed from the stranger and headed off into a nearby forest. We'd been driving around further north so it was rather cold. I don't know why I even decided to head into the forest because now I was hopelessly lost. "You are a genius Clementine." I patted my own head and smiled sarcastically. For some reason it actually made me feel better to make fun of myself on some degree.

"Jesus Luke since when is wondering around the woods at night ever a good idea?" I heard a voice in the distance. My child instincts kicked in and I called out without thinking of consequence.

"Hello? Help me please!" The voices stopped and I heard crunching leaves. I hid behind a tree when I truly thought about what I'd said. Lee told me never to trust strangers. But then again all we ever did when we went around in this world was trust strangers. The two men stepped into the moon light where I could see them better.

"See Pete, there's nobody out here. Your ears are getting worse every fucking day." The other man, probably Luke from what the other man yelled before, scoffed. Suddenly they heard my gasp and turned to me. "Or maybe not…" I placed my hands over my mouth. I can't believe I'd gasped like that. Just because he swore it would get me killed or worse.

"Is somebody there? We won't hurt you if you do the same." The man I'd learnt as Pete approached the tree I was hiding behind. I tried to shrink down to a smaller size. Pete walked past the tree and looked out into the night. My little heart began to race. He sighed and turned back. "I can't see any… wait a second?" He peered more closely at the tree I was crouching at. He pulled something out when I was blinded by a light. "Found her." I sprinted off to get away from the men, not realising where I was going.

"Wait! Come back kid!" Luke called to me. I didn't stop running until I saw something in the distance. It looked a lot like a wooden cabin. It was dark and empty so I burst in through the door. Two pairs of eyes looked up at me. A Spanish man and a large black man. I turned to leave but another man with a cap blocked my path.

"Guys she could be with Carver, we can't let her…" I slipped under his arm but he grabbed the back of my shirt. I was yanked back and fell onto my butt. I glared at the man. "Carlos, we need to…"

"Nick, we don't need to do anything until Pete and Luke come back. So don't treat her like crap." The Spanish guy said. Nick grumbled and grabbed my hands and tied them up. I suddenly felt very afraid.

"No! Not again! Please not this again! Don't eat me!" I screamed, remembering the St Johns all over again. Nick suddenly let me go while Carlos and the other guy looked disgusted.

"Why would we eat you? That's just sick." The black man asked. I scrambled away and instantly headed up the stairs out of desperation. I saw a younger girl pop her head out of the door while a pregnant lady came out from the bathroom. I backed away slowly and ran into an open room. I kicked the door closed behind me just before the lady could get in.

"Who the hell is she?" I heard her call. I locked the door just I case and mere milliseconds after the handle rattled. I backed away and had a look back and forth. I heard an argument outside the door when I heard a sudden thump on the outside.

"Nick! That's Pete's room! Stop that!" I suddenly remembered how they said that name earlier. The two men in the woods, one was also called Pete. There was a small rattling coming from the door now.

"Because picking the lock is faster." The pregnant lady groaned. I had to find a way out. I saw a window and opened it as best I could with bound hands. They heard this and began to argue to each other. I looked down and it didn't look too far down but I didn't want to risk it. Instead I rolled under the bed just as Carlos stormed in. He ran over to the window and cursed suddenly. "See, if you just let Nick kick it down then she wouldn't have leapt out to tell Carver where we are." Carlos shook his head and rubbed his eyes.

"Rebecca, I don't think she was with Carver. He isn't that low as to send a kid as a scout. She looked very freighted." Rebecca scoffed and left the room. Carlos sighed and left too, slamming the door behind him. Suddenly there was a lot of yelling downstairs. I heard somebody coming back upstairs. Pete stormed in and checked his drawers.

"I don't think she stole anything. Thank Christ." He sighed and hopped backwards onto his bed. I squeaked and he shot up suddenly. He looked around but smiled before leaving the room. He came back in Carlos. "Seriously Doc, you're telling me she leapt out that window, and managed to run off? I think she tricked you. And I know that as a fact." Carlos looked unsure of himself as Pete smiled. I crawled further back to try hide in the shadows.

"Well where else could she go? The drawers are too small for even her and nobody in their right mind would…" He trailed off. I felt very uneasy as the feet came closer to the side of the bed. He got onto his hands and knees and widened his eyes. "She's still here!" He called to the others. I rolled forth which startled the man, causing him to jump back, and made my way for the door. I saw people coming up the stairs so I made a split second decision. I jumped over the railing but my arm was caught by Pete.

"Don't go doing that kid. We're not going to harm you." He hoisted me back up but I wouldn't stop kicking. It was making it difficult to hold on. "Please stop or I might…" His grip slipped as I screamed, tumbling towards the ground. I thought I was going to hit it until I fell into the black man's arms.

"It's alright guys I caught her." I wriggled out of his arms and made my way for the door. I was not giving up when I still had a chance. Just as I burst out another pair of hands grabbed me. It was an older woman who grabbed me. Her mere presence seemed to calm me down. This also made me uneasy.

"Shush now darling, it'll be okay. Please stop running." She hugged me close and I just sobbed. There was something about this woman I could just trust. It was weird. Everyone came out the door and noticed me crying in her arms.

"You always have your way with kids huh Helena? Pete smirked. Helena smiled and rubbed my back.

"Well Nick turned out right didn't he? Also, how many times have I got to tell my own brother I prefer to go by Helen? We've been arguing about this for years." I didn't let go of the woman. She reminded me of Katjaa, so kind and loving. She picked me up slowly and suddenly scowled. "I was wrong. Nick, why did you tie her up?" She glared at him.

"Sorry mum but I thought she could be…"

"No buts Nick. Never treat kids like that. Do you really want to be like your father?" Nick shook his head shamefully. She nodded triumphantly. "Now apologise to the poor kid." She rotated me in her arms so I could see Nick. He mumbled something inaudible. "I'm sorry Nick what was that?" Luke, Pete and the big man were smiling at this point.

"I'm sorry I tied your hands up." Helen nodded her head and brought me inside and set me down on the couch. The big man came forth and cut the ropes, startling me. Helen smiled at me and asked me a surprising question.

"Why were you so afraid of being tied up? I heard you scream something about us eating you while I was out in the shed." I didn't notice everyone had gathered around the living room to listen to my story. "It's ok sweetie go ahead."

"Not too long ago some people let us come to their farm to stay. Then my friend Mark accidently got shot with an arrow by some bandits. They… they later tried to feed us Mark's legs. I didn't really like it because when we found out they locked us up." Helen nodded and Pete stepped forth.

"Is that why you didn't like being tied up?" He asked, seating himself next to me. I sniffed and shook my head.

"That's only part of the reason. Even shorter back I was kidnapped by some man whose car we robbed when he was long gone, just after we escaped the farm. He stalked us and told me he had my parents. I never saw my group again and he always had me tied up, saying we could be a family. One night he slipped up and forgot to tie me up tightly. While he slept I… I grabbed… a knife and I… I…" I let out a sob but stopped myself from crying. "Then I ran and ran. That happened literally minutes before I ran into you and Luke. Then I ran because I realised you could also trap me and then…" I began to sob again when Luke patted my shoulder.

"I'm sorry darlin' we didn't know you've had it this bad. Nick didn't realise, none of us did." I nodded and wiped my nose. Suddenly I heard the stairs creak and saw the younger girl from earlier. Carlos followed my gaze and saw the girl.

"Sarah, it's past your bed time. Sorry the commotion woke you just go back to bed. I'll come tuck you in soon." Sarah nodded her head and turned just before she left.

"Who is she daddy?" Carlos actually didn't know and turned to me. I sniffed again and looked up to her.

"My n-names Cl-Clementine." I sniffled. Satisfied with the answer Sarah went off to her room. Carlos followed her up, probably to tuck her in. Everyone slowly introduced themselves properly.

"My name's Pete, I'm Nick's uncle and Helens brother." Pete shook my hand gently. Luke stepped forth.

"I'm Luke, I don't really have any family but Nick's been my friend for twenty years." He patted my head and the big man came forth next.

"I'm Alvin, husband to Rebecca. She's the angry pregnant lady who doesn't want to talk right now." He gestured over to his wife who glared at me.

"I'm Nick, sorry for going aggro on you. That was not cool." I nodded my head and Helen smiled.

"Well I'm Helena but I'm better off known as Helen. Something my brother Peter keeps forgetting." She nudged Pete playfully who returned the smile. Carlos came down the stairs.

"My name is Carlos, I'm a doctor. My daughter upstairs is Sarah. I'd advise you leave her alone." He stared matter-of-factly at me. I simply cocked my head to the side.

"Why? I piped. Carlos sighed and sat down on one of the many couches.

"Because she doesn't really know what the world's like out there. If she really found out she would… cease to function. I'm actually somewhat amazed you haven't yourself considering what you've done so far." I nodded and explained.

"My guardian taught me to be brave, to keep my hair short and to shoot a gun. He…" My hands suddenly flew to my head. "He has the hat my dad gave me!" I began to panic but Nick felt sorry for me. He placed his hat on my head.

"There, just so it doesn't feel wrong, and as an apology. But I will want it back later understand." I adjusted it and nodded slowly. Everyone dispersed slowly and Helen smiled at me again.

"You can sleep with me tonight if you'd like." I gave her a weak grin and nodded slowly. She grabbed my hand and led me to a room I never entered. It was next to Pete's room. "Sometimes when Nick is upset or has a nightmare I let him sleep with me. Pete, Rebecca, Carlos, Sarah, Alvin and I all have beds of our own. Nick, Luke and sometimes Alvin, depending on Rebecca's mood, sleep on the couch. We have somebody else but he prefers to sleep in the shed. You'll get to meet him tomorrow." She said something else but I'd already fallen asleep in her arms.

**Early morning**

I woke slowly and saw a face hanging above me. They were glaring intently and it scared me. I shook Helen awake and she groaned. The man above me turned to her.

"Helen, what the hell is this? You know I hate surprises." The man glared. I suddenly realised he wasn't looming over me; he was hanging from the ceiling off of the light. Helen grumbled and sat up.

"Caine stop scaring the child." He muttered something and dropped from the light, landing upon his hands. He got to his feet and glared again. "Look Caine we were going to tell you but you always…"

"I know I'm in the shed by choice. That doesn't mean you just forget to tell me these things." He left the room and leapt over the railing onto the floor below with a loud bang. Everyone groaned in protest.

"He has no care if he wakes others up. But he's a damn good fighter and has saved everyone's lives more than once, especially Sarah's." She got out of her bed and went to take off her clothes but suddenly turned to me. "Could you wait outside as I change?" I nodded my head and left the room. She closed the door behind me. I saw Carlos and Sarah come out of one room while Pete came out of the one next door.

"She changing again? I swear she changes clothes every day. Not like the rest of us. We pretty much keep our clothes." Pete smirked, shaking his head. They all made their way downstairs and Helen opened the door. She smiled down at me.

"If you want I reckon Sarah has some old clothes you could borrow. If Carlos and Sarah let you." Carlos seemed a little too protective over his daughter. She escorted me downstairs and we were greeted by Nick.

"Mornin' mom." He yawned. I hid behind her leg and her chuckled. "No need to worry kid, I'm not really a mean person." I didn't really move from behind her leg. He just smiled and headed into the kitchen. I came out slowly but Rebecca came out.

"Oh, looks like you have a shadow Helen." She sneered. She didn't sound like a nice person. Helen glared at the woman.

"That's a bit racist don't you think?"

"She's not that dark for it to be considered so." She smirked, heading off into the kitchen as well. Helen sighed and twisted her neck to look at me.

"Don't mind Rebecca, she's just hormonal." I looked rather confused and she slapped her forehead lightly. "Right you're only eight. Yeah hormones sometimes make people angry or sad without a good reason. I really don't want to have to explain this." We went into the kitchen and she got me some breakfast.

"So Nick and I are headed to the river to catch some fish. Who else wants to tag along?" Nick suddenly shot his head up visibly confused.

"Hang on why am I coming?" Nick didn't get his answer as Alvin stepped forth.

"It'd be nice to stretch my legs and do something. I'm a bit plump." He patted his belly lightly to which Rebecca rolled her eyes. Alvin noticed this and chuckled.

"You call that plump?" She gestured to her pregnant belly. Pete grabbed his things while Nick and Alvin did too. As they left Helen kissed the cheeks of both Pete and Nick, Nick looking rather embarrassed.

"Stay safe out there." They were about to leave when I ran forth to stop them.

"Wait! Nick!" He turned around and the other two stopped. I pulled the hat off my head and handed it to him. "Thanks for letting me borrow it." He smiled at me.

"No problem kid." I smiled back and went off inside. Helen was beaming at me along with Luke. I just looked at both of them.

"Looks like Nick has a soft spot for this one." Luke joked, nudging Helen. They both laughed and went off to do whatever. Rebecca rolled her eyes and stormed off to her room. Carlos had just given Sarah her food and I took my place on the other side. Carlos left, eyeing me suspiciously. Sarah turned to make sure he was gone and turned back to me.

"Wanna be best friends? I've never had a best friend before." I put my spoon down as I was about to take a mouthful. She smiled at me innocently. "Please? Helen and Rebecca are too old. Luke's ok and so is Nick but once again they're too old. Alvin's nice, along with Pete, Caine is… spooky but he has a soft spot for kids. "

"Your dad doesn't really want me talking to you. Besides, I'd be too young." Sarah sighed and nodded slowly. I went back to eating my food.

"Dad never lets me talk to anyone. But I guess you don't want to make him mad, and you are only eight, I'm fifteen, I get it." She went back to her food but I felt bad for her. I stuck out my pinkie and she looked up.

"Friends?" I asked. She tried to contain her excitement and wrapped hers around mine.

"Until the end." She broadened her smile and nodded her head.

"A pinkie swear is forever." I mentioned.

**Later**

I was sitting in the living room trying to do a small puzzle when Rebecca came over. I looked up and shrunk back in fear. Luke was outside, Caine was probably in his shed, Carlos and Sarah were in their room and Helen was in the bathroom.

"What are you doing here hmm? What purpose do you have of staying? I don't really think anybody'd mind if you just up and left." The words really stung me and I did what I usually did when I was yelled at by my parents, which wasn't often. I got up and ran. I heard Rebecca call out. "Wait! I didn't mean it!" I barrelled past Luke who stood in shock and began the chase. In about thirty seconds I had lost Luke and myself. I'd tripped over and kept running but realised it wasn't a straight line anymore. I slowed down and sat up against a tree and began to cry.

"Why is she so mean?" I asked the photo of Lee I kept in my pocket. Suddenly I heard a groan of a walker approaching. I saw it come out of the bushes so I reached for my gun. I didn't feel its cold feel so I panicked. I must have dropped it. It snarled but its snarling was cut off when a knife hurtled through the air and struck the walkers head. It fell over dead and I glanced off to the side. I saw Caine with another knife in his hand.

"Get up. You're lucky I like kids too much." I got up slowly as he led my out of the woods. I heard people calling out my name when I thought I heard a familiar voice. I ran forth and looked around.

"Carley?" I called out. I looked around but I only found Sarah and Carlos on the porch. Sarah called my name when she saw me and I felt stupid. It was just Sarah but when she called it sounded a little like Carley. When you're not thinking straight your mind plays these sorts of tricks on you. She went to run forth and greet my but her father placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Who was this Carley Clementine? Who are they?" Carlos demanded. He glared at me which frightened me. Caine scowled the man and stepped forth.

"Come on doc she's a kid. Don't freak her out." Carlos almost laughed at his comment.

"You did a real good job at that this morning." Caine kicked the ground and muttered something I thought only I could here.

"Ánte gamí̱sou." He looked back up at Carlos who glared at the man, crossing his arms.

"Just because it's another language doesn't make it any different." I wanted the men to stop so I answered Carlos's question.

"Carley was a girl I was with before the bad man kidnapped me." Carlos looked at me suspiciously for a few seconds. Satisfied with my answer he went back inside.

"Funny, I had a cousin named Carley." Caine smirked. He went off to the shed and closed the doors behind him. By the looks of it he'd undone the lock on the outside and placed it inside. Luke came out with Rebecca from the trees and both sighed in relief.

"I'm so sorry Clementine I didn't really mean it." She looked upset about what she'd done. She came forth and placed my dropped gun into my hands. Well my time here certainly has been a roller-coaster.

**Well let's end this here. It's gone on for a good three and a half thousand words. That seems an alright size for a first chapter. I don't know why but Helen is just too fitting a name for Nick's mother. I just don't get it. Well let me know what you think. Until then just keep holding back those harsh words.**


	3. Rising Tension

**So yeah this is the next chapter. I'm assuming you didn't come here to hear me ramble did you? Ok then, let's get going.**

**Clementine**

I was sitting upon the couch, pistol on the table. Nick, Pete, Alvin, Rebecca and Carlos stood before me. Caine was urged to attend but he refused. He hated meetings of any kind unless it was new information for him. Carlos sat down and so did the others. He leant forth slowly.

"I'd like you to repeat what Rebecca said and what you did." Nick sat upright and looked over to Rebecca. Alvin sighed and Pete raised his eyebrows.

"You called us here just after we get back to tell us Clementine hit Rebecca?" Nick quizzed, frowning at Carlos. He shook his head but this simply angered Nick. "Well what for then?" Carlos gestured to me and I took a deep breath.

"I can't remember exactly what she said but I remember bits of it. She asked why I was here, what was the reason. She said that nobody would care if I ran off." Nick went to say something to Rebecca but Carlos shot his hand up as if to tell him not to speak. "I ran off because I was a good kid so I rarely got yelled out so she scared me. So I knock Luke aside, who was walking around outside, and ran into the woods. I tripped on a rock, which knocked me off course, and kept going. In a short time I realised it wasn't a straight line anymore so I panicked. Then Caine shows up, kills a walker, and brings me back. That's about it I guess." Pete listened intently at my story. Alvin sat quietly, glancing at his wife at the start. Nick looked rather angered. Before anyone said anything I suddenly gasped. "Oh I almost forgot. Rebecca apologised to me afterwards." Rebecca smiled slightly, mouthing 'thank you' for mentioning this.

"So… anything else important?" Asked Pete. I shook my head after thinking for a few seconds. "Well as long as you're safe and Rebecca apologised…"

"You're just going to let her off that easy?" Growled Carlos. Pete sighed and turned to the Spanish doctor. "She ran off alone into the woods, forcing people to risk their own lives for her."

"Well she's safe now Carlos. Besides, she's not your kid, or anyone's. She doesn't really need anything major." Pete retaliated. Carlos glared at Pete, then me before heading off upstairs. Pete chuckled and leant back. "He never wins a one on one argument with me."

"Why the hell'd you do that Rebecca?" Nick fumed. Alvin stood in to protect his wife.

"You heard the kid, she apologised. No need to get snappy Nick." Alvin glared at the man. Nick laughed rather loudly.

"She's so tough that she yells at little girls but when there's a man around she needs help from her husband." Alvin was becoming rather angry at this point. Rebecca came forth and poked Nick's chest.

"Don't you dare speak to us like that. I said I was sorry. She accepted it and I'm even acting kinder to her. Leave it alone now Nick." Nick snarled and went to say something when Caine slammed the door open. Everyone turned to him.

"Nick! Rebecca! I don't want to hear another word about this understand?" He raised his eyebrow but neither challenged him. Alvin, Rebecca and Nick all simultaneously left the room at this point. Pete chuckled once more.

"Nobody would dare challenge you Caine. You're better then everyone and they respect you enough not to. Everyone except Carlos, but he still wouldn't win a fight." Caine smiled at Pete and left the room, back outside. I finally got a word in.

"So I'm free to leave now?" Pete nodded his head so I got up and headed for the kitchen. There wasn't ever much to do around here to occupy your time. A pair of hands covered my eyes suddenly.

"Guess who?" I knew that voice. It wasn't very hard to guess who they were.

"Hey Helen." She uncovered my eyes and wheeled me around. "Sorry about running before." She smiled and crouched down to my height.

"You're only eight, it's understandable. Carlos still isn't happy about this though but he'll get over it." She got up from her crouch. "So Rebecca's had a change of heart." She smiled and shook her head, placing her hands upon her hips. "She doesn't often do so, especially for Alvin. Consider yourself lucky." I nodded and continued inside the kitchen. I sat in a seat when Sarah popped up from behind the counter.

"Hey there Clementine." Sarah beamed, waving to me. I waved half-heartedly back. She frowned and came by and sat next to me. "What's the matter Clementine? Is it my dad?" I nodded slowly. "Did he find out about us being friends?" I shook my head. I didn't exactly feel like talking to Sarah right now. "Is it about the whole Carley thing?" This got my attention. "Sorry I sound like her I guess."

"It wasn't your fault, it was my brain. I was so scared about being lost that when I heard it I actually believed it was her. Your mind plays those cruel tricks on you." I let a tear roll down slowly, trying to remember Carley's exact voice again. It made me upset almost forgetting it. Sarah noticed my sadness and patted my back.

"It's ok, I lost my mother. I can't remember her face either." I sniffled and rubbed my nose. Sarah embraced me in a sort of side hug. I let my tears roll slowly down my face. She rubbed my shoulder and hugged me tighter. I couldn't help but continue my tears. It was getting a lot harder to remember simple things like that. I heard footsteps and glanced up to see Carlos standing by the door.

"What's going on here?" He demanded of us. Sarah shot away from me and stood up to explain to her father. I didn't really want to get her in trouble and I'm sure neither did she.

"Well Clementine was feeling sad about the whole Carley mistake so I tried to comfort her." Sarah tried as best she could without really giving how we got to that point. Carlos looked over to me and I swear I saw his face soften for a split second. "I tried that whole sympathy thing." Carlos raised his eyebrow to this. "I was saying how I sometimes found it difficult to remember mom's features just as she forgot Carley's."

"You've forgotten your mothers face, her voice?" Carlos asked rather shocked at this. Sarah nodded slowly and hugged him.

"It's ok daddy, it's not really that bad. Don't you find it difficult to remember?" Carlos looked off to nothing in particular for a while before responding.

"It tears me apart every day." Carlos returned his gaze to his daughter. She almost looked unfazed by bringing up her mom. I'd be horrified if I couldn't remember her face. I always kept a photo of my parents and Lee on me at all times. Along with the drawing of Kenny and his family.

**Later that night**

"Is there anywhere else I could sleep?" I asked looking up at Helen. She smiled at me and crouched down. I swear she always smiles around me.

"What's the matter Clem? Already sick of old Helen?" She broadened her smile and put on a fake clichéd old woman voice. "Let me tell you one of my old tales." She laughed quietly as I giggled.

"No it's just weird sleeping with somebody else's mom." I said. She tried to hold in her laughter. "What's the matter?" She managed to control herself.

"You'll get it when you're older. Go ask Luke if there's a spare spot on the couch." I nodded and made my way downstairs to the lounge room. Once there I saw Nick and Luke setting up some cards on the table.

"Hey Luke, why did Helen almost laugh when I said it's weird sleeping with someone else's mom?" This time Nick tried to stop himself from laughing which Luke just rolled his eyes.

"You're entire family can be quite sick minded sometimes, even Pete on a good day." Luke shoved Nick gently. I repeated my question. "Oh, well… it's kind of an adult joke I guess. So whatcha down here for Clem?"

"I just felt that sleeping up there felt weird considering she's Nick's mother. So she said to ask if there's room on the couch." Luke patted the spot next to him so I sat there.

"We were going to have a game of poker, ever played before?" I shook my head. "I'm not surprised. For some reason it took Nick nearly three explanations just to get the basics down. Even now we have to remind him every now and then." Nick rolled his eyes and picked up some cards.

"I don't think she'll want to play." Nick smiled. I pouted which Luke laughed to. "But I guess we could play something more accustomed to her age. Maybe something like Go Fish or maybe even a simple Guess Who if Sarah didn't brake it." Luke nodded slowly to these options.

"I much rather prefer Go Fish, me and Duck always used to…" I trailed off remembering the kid. He was my friend but he got bitten when the bandits attacked the motor inn. Luke noticed this and ruffled my hair.

"It'll be alright Clem. So let's play a little Go Fish." He shuffled a little to the right and I to the left so we couldn't cheat. We soon got underway with our game. It started off a little slow and boring but after two games it actually seemed to be getting rather fun. "Even with a simple game like this Nick still can't win." Luke chuckled.

"Hey man shut up. Don't be an ass about it." Nick smiled.

"Swear." I quickly murmured. I still couldn't really stop myself sometimes. They both snickered at this. We continued on until, after about eleven games, Nick won.

"Yes, haha I won." He silently cheered to himself. Luke and I tried not to tell him we technically let him win. Luke even tried to 'rig the deck' as he said. I didn't know what that meant but I didn't care. "Someone looks tired."

"I'm not…" I yawned and felt my eyelids begin to droop. "I'm fine I…" I yawned again resting my head onto Luke's arm. He lifted it and wrapped it around my shoulder. He smiled as my eyelids began to close.

"Goodnight sweet pea." He whispered. With the few seconds of time I had left I muttered.

"Could you not call me that, it still pains me." He whispered what I assume was an ok but I'd fallen asleep before I could find out for sure.

**Early next morning**

I woke slowly, still feeling sleep trying to pull me back. I tried to force myself awake and slowly got up. I looked around and noticed something strange. I was in a small open field, with a nearby tent. There was a smoking fire and I was leaning against a wooden post. I tried to stand but my hands were tied. Oh no, I'm back with the stranger. I tried to tug against my ropes when I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"You were a fool to run off Clementine. No wonder I never came after you." I turned to see Lee standing before me, with Kenny beside him. "You're an idiot Clementine, you really screwed up." He began to smile. "I never liked you anyway." I couldn't say anything. My mouth now had a rag around it preventing me from speech.

"I never liked her either Lee. She's just a liability." Kenny laughed along with Lee. Their faces slowly began to melt away leaving only muscle and bone. I could not believe what was happening. This had to be a nightmare, it had to be. But none of my nightmares have been this horrific. "Wake up Clementine." Kenny sneered. He shoved a gun to my head. "Wake up. Come on Nick help me out." I looked at Kenny again, noticing his face had become Luke's.

"God's sake she's starting to have a fit or something." I tried to call out but the rag still stopped me. "Fuck she won't stop. Carlos!" Slowly the world around me went black. "Carlos what do I do?"

**Reality**

I gasped as a sudden sting was felt across my cheek. I coughed violently and gasped for more air. What happened to me? I was in Luke's arms again but he was yelling at Carlos.

"What the fuck doc? Why'd you have to slap her?" He seethed at the man. Carlos held up his hands in defence.

"I didn't really have an ice cold bucket of water around. It's not that hard to stop these sorts of nightmares. A cold hard slap of reality always works." Carlos strolled away, knowing Luke wasn't really going to forgive him.

"Clementine, my god what happened to you? What sort of nightmare could do such a thing?" I rubbed my cheek slowly and shrugged. I actually couldn't really remember what had happened, just that it was terrible.

"I can only remember something somebody said. Luke, what's a liability? In my nightmare somebody called me a liability." Luke rubbed the back of his neck, unsure whether to say anything.

"It's a burden kid." Caine muttered. "Usually a problem or danger nobody wants around." He was just so matter-of-fact about it. Luke glared at him. "I'm just giving the kid her answer." He made his way out the door. I sniffed and rubbed my nose.

"Is it true? Am I a liability?" Luke widened his eyes and shook his head furiously.

"Of course not, you're not useless or anything. You can shoot a gun for example. That's something right?" I nodded slowly. "You're not afraid to kill a walker. You don't just run and scream or shut down." I began to feel better with his explanation. "Heck I'm sure your size has come in handy."

"It has. It helped us escape the cannibals." I noted. Luke actually smiled.

"See, you're not a liability." My smile broadened. Luke had really helped me then. "Why don't I fix you up some breakfast and see if I can borrow a change of clothes for you from Carlos. Sarah's your best friend so she wouldn't mind." Luke winked at me when he said the end bit.

"How do you know?" I inquired. Luke just smiled and stood up.

"I was just outside the kitchen. Just remember, a pinkie swear is forever." He smirked imitating what I'd said to Sarah earlier.

**Later in the day**

I could once more hear Luke and Carlos arguing. They didn't seem to get on very well. Were they always this competitive?

"Fucks sake Carlos you got to consult the group about these sorts of things! She's a kid!" Was it about me again? I lifted my hand to my sore cheek. It turned out Carlos practically slapped me back into reality. Luke wasn't letting him off easy.

"If I had of said anything you would have disagreed!"

"That's not true! If it would help her…"

"I still think you would have disagreed!"

"Dad's been getting angry at Luke a lot lately." Sarah startled me. I didn't realise she'd come up behind me. I sighed and looked up the stairs. I was sure it was ever since I got here.

"She's not your daughter!"

"Well she ain't yours either!"

"I think it's about you again." Sarah groaned. "Dad and Luke always fight over you." I scratched my head thinking it over.

"Why do they fight over me?" Why would they? Carlos doesn't care for me that much. Why would her fight about it? Pete burst out of his room and headed to Carlos's room. A few seconds later we heard Pete yelling at both men.

"Dad thinks Luke is overprotective while Luke thinks dad is the opposite." I got a confused look at this point. "Luke's not the only one. Nick had a little growl at dad today as well. Even Alvin had a little snap at him and now Pete's having a go."

"So I'm causing problems?" I looked down rather ashamed. Sarah felt bad for me and patted my back. Suddenly Carlos slammed the door open and yelled at Luke just before he left.

"Well somebodies got to go and it isn't going to be me!" He stormed down the stairs and looked at both me and Sarah. Sarah backed away from me but Carlos just left into the kitchen, going out the side door.

"Is your dad going to kick me out?" I asked rather worriedly. Sarah shrugged at this point and went up to her room. Pete had gone into his room again while Luke stormed into the bathroom. It really isn't a good idea to fight with walkers around but sometimes people can't control themselves. I sniffed and grabbed a small backpack and stuffed two cans of peaches and a bottle of water into it. I also grabbed my gun and a few extra bullets along with a kitchen knife. I quickly scribbled onto some paper and left the note on the living room table. It was a bright green note so it would be hard to miss.

"Fucking Carlos." I heard Luke mutter. I hadn't noticed Luke had left the bathroom. I snuck out the same door Carlos left and snuck away, avoiding Nick's patrolling eyes. I made it into the tree line just as I heard Luke call out.

"Clementine? Clem where are you?" I hurried of at a quicker pace to avoid being caught. I heard Nick also call out my name and tried to hurry. I checked behind me to make sure I'd gotten away clean. That was until I bumped into a walker in front of me. I yelped and pulled out my gun but it was actually Carlos.

"Clementine? What are you doing out here? Why have you got…?" He sighed and placed his hands upon his hips. "Are you running away again?" I was frozen in place and my hand began to shake. "Well?"

"You said someone had to leave so I thought it would be best if I did to stop the fighting." I mumbled to him. Carlos shook his head and grabbed my shoulder.

"Clementine, I wasn't arguing to get rid of you. It was just an argument between me and Luke. He asked if I wanted to leave when I said somebody has to go. I didn't mean you at all." My hand began to shake even more and I ended up dropping my gun. "I'm so sorry." Carlos actually looked hesitant for a second before embracing me into a hug.

"I thought you hated me." He shook his head and lifted me up. "I'm sorry but I thought this time if I ran away it would actually help the situation." Carlos nodded slowly and carried me back towards the cabin.

"Luke! Nick!" Carlos called to the men as we exited the tree line. They both bolted straight over and sighed in relief. "She…"

"I know why she left. She had a note on the table. I'm so sorry Clementine but we didn't think you'd assume Carlos wanted you gone." I began to cry again which made Luke's face soften. Carlos passed me to him and Luke carried me back inside. "It'll be ok Clementine. Just, please let this be the last time you make a runner. I nodded to him. Hopefully that would be the last time.

**Later that night**

I made my way downstairs after getting changed into some pyjamas. They were a little big but they were comfortable. They belonged to Sarah but she had three pairs and she doesn't need all three at once. I shuffled towards the couch when I heard a light tapping against the window. I stood there for a few seconds, thinking I was hearing things, until I heard another set of taps. I turned to the window and found a silhouette by the window.

"Luke, there's someone at the window." I whispered. I tugged his arm gently but he tried to ignore me. "Luke." I hissed. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "There's someone there." He shook his head and looked at the window.

"Fuck, they could be with Carver." He rushed to his pack, grabbed his torch and shone the light towards the window. "They don't look it." They covered their face before I could get a good look but they were defiantly a man.

"Hey man turn that off." There was something about that voice. It sounded familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it. I tried to have a better look but Luke switched it off. "Thanks, mind letting me in?"

"Who are you?" Luke demanded, holding his pistol by his side just in case. The man sighed and responded.

"My name is Andrew but you can call me Andy." He went around the side and opened the door. Luke aimed his gun at the man. "Whoa now hang on, I'm willing to trade if… ah fuck no." He went to run but Nick came in through the door and bumped into the man.

"Don't move asshole." Nick growled. Andy raised his hands when suddenly I remembered who he was.

"Andy St John?" He turned to me and grinned slowly.

"Yes, hello Clementine, nice to see you again." Nick turned to me and put on a look that said 'you know this guy?' "It's been a while."

"Shoot him." I said. Luke glanced at me while Nick looked reluctant.

"Whoa Clementine, why the hell?" Nick inquired. I glared at the large man and spat at him.

"He was one of the men who tried to force us to eat Mark and tried to eat my group. He's a cannibal."

**Well now it's Andrew St John here to fuck shit up for Clementine. He's probably going to die once Nick heard those words. Luke might if Nick doesn't but if they both hesitate then he might just slip away. Anyway until then just keep an eye out.**


	4. What's Real?

**Well we're back and just as a recap; Andrew St John has turned up to the cabin while Clementine is telling Nick and Luke to shoot him.**

**Clementine**

"You sick fuck!" Nick smashed his guns butt over the large man's head. He grunted and stumbled forth. He managed to stay upright but Luke also took a swing at him. Andy grabbed his hand but Nick shot him in the back.

"What the heck is going on?" Carlos stormed down the stairs. He saw the dead body and turned to Nick. "What the heck did you do Nick?" Nick was still glaring down at the body. I grabbed out my knife and shoved it into his skull. "Clementine!"

"This sick fuck was the same guy who tried to eat Clementine's group." Nick spat. By now Alvin, Rebecca, Helen, Pete and Sarah had left their rooms. "We couldn't really let him live, he's a fucking cannibal."

"Dad? What's a cannibal?" Sarah asked. Carlos turned to her and ushered her to bed. Nick grabbed the corpse and began to drag it outside. Caine came through the door and grabbed the man so Nick let him take it.

"Well I certainly wasn't expecting that sort of night." Luke sighed. I nodded my head. What were the chances of him finding me out here? Maybe Lee's mercy wasn't such a good idea after all.

**The next morning**

_I stirred slowly awake. The world around me seemed blurred or foggy at the edges. This must be another dream. I was still in the cabin but nobody was there. I tried to call out but my voice wouldn't come. I must have looked like a gaping fish. I heard footsteps upstairs so I went up to find out who it was. I couldn't really stop myself anyway. I opened a door and found Carlos inside._

_"Ah Clementine! Isn't this a wonderful morning?" He was making his bed while whistling softly to himself. I tried to respond but I just couldn't. Why can't dreams just go the way you want them to? "Clementine? Are you ok?" He approached me and crouched to my height._

_"Behind you!" I managed to garble. A walker grabbed him and sunk its teeth into his neck. He screamed in pain and tried to get it off. "Carlos! Carlos! No please no!" I tried to run forth and help but my hands and feet felt like cinderblocks were weighing them down._

_"Fine I won't slap her this time." Carlos muttered. The walker had duplicated and now two were eating his body. I could finally move so I pulled out a pistol and downed both. I ran over and he murmured. "You have to shoot me Clementine."_

_"No Carlos! Please don't make me! Please don't die!" I felt a cold feeling run along my body before everything faded back._

**Reality**

"Oh Jesus Christ!" I gasped and shivered as the water ran down my back. This far north and you don't need a freezer to get water this cold. I jumped up and looked around me. Luke, Nick and Carlos were all there. I looked to them. "What happened to me? Why did you do that? Was it another joke?"

"Clementine, your nightmares are getting worse. This time you were muttering and swinging your arms wildly. Can you remember what this was about?" Carlos leaned in. I bit my lip as I tried to think. I knew it was a very scary one. I tried hard when something shimmered into my memory.

"You were there. Something was happening to you but I can't remember." I murmured. Carlos nodded and turned back to Luke.

"What was it you said you heard her saying again Luke?" Carlos inquired. Luke sighed and crossed his arms.

"She was muttering 'behind you' and 'don't die'' I think." Luke rubbed his arm nervously. "What does this mean?" He asked. Carlos shrugged his shoulders and looked back to me.

"Are you sure you're ok Clementine? That's twice you've had these sorts of nightmares?" Carlos crouched to my height. Nick scowled the man.

"Of course she's not ok. She escapes a stranger who kidnaps her one night, gets lost in the woods and has some man who previously tried to eat her shot in front of her." Nick gestured his hands in front of him.

"She's tough as nails Nick. She'll be fine." Pete assumed from upstairs. He had left his room because of our little argument. "You just worry about yourself and hope her dreams aren't visions." He chuckled.

"I hope not or that would mean I probably get eaten." Carlos growled. He got up when Sarah began her way downstairs. "Good morning sweety."

"Why don't you sing her lullaby's like when I was young? Maybe even read her a book." Sarah suggested. Carlos approached her and heard Luke chuckle.

"I don't think Carlos can sing. I'm sure Helen would be more suited for that." Carlos smiled and turned to Luke. He chuckled lightly and advanced towards him.

"Don't think I can sing do you?" Carlos mocked. "I'd like to hear you do better than me." He poked Luke's chest gently. "Go on Luke, sing."

"Touché alright?" Carlos grinned and left the man grumbling to himself. "So are you going to do what Sarah suggested?" Luke questioned. Carlos shrugged and took his daughter to the kitchen for some breakfast.

"Lee used to hum to me when I couldn't sleep." I smiled at the memory.

_"What's the matter sweet pea?" Lee rolled to me as I stirred._

_"I can't sleep. Could you sing to me?" I faced him in our bed at the motel._

_"I can't really sing honey." He chuckled. I sighed and nodded._

_"Ok, my mom used to." I rolled over and tried to get some sleep. It was then I heard Lee humming softly. It sounded soothing. "Thanks Lee." I closed my eyes and felt sleep slowly consume me._

I felt a small pang of sadness but more so joy. It was hard to feel sad on such happy events, even when they will never happen again. I just hope Lee is still out there, making sure Kenny doesn't do the unthinkable.

"So what's on today's agenda?" Helen came hopping down the stairs. She seemed overly excited for her age. Not that I'm saying she's old. "Fishing, hunting, foraging or maybe some gathering?"

"Helen, that's all basically the same thing." Pete chuckled. Helen just shrugged and made her way to the kitchen. "She seems excited today. Let's just hope something doesn't ruin it." Luke shook his head and looked back up to him.

"You know whenever Helen's happy then nothing can change that." Pete smiled and came downstairs. Rebecca and Alvin also came out of their rooms. "Looks like everyone's up now. Let's get some breakfast." Everyone went to the kitchen except me. I just pulled out my photo of Lee. I stood there looking at it for some time.

"Clementine? Are you ok?" Rebecca asked. She startled me and I dropped my photo. "What's that?" It had landed in front of her so she crouched down to pick it up. "Is this you dad?" I shook my head.

"That's Lee. He's the man who looked after me when my parents went on vacation and those things attacked. I do have a photo of my parents though." I pulled it out also and stroked it gently. "It helps to remember these things." Rebecca came over and handed me the photo of Lee.

"Come on; let's get some food in there." She patted my stomach gently and escorted me to the kitchen.

**Later in the day**

I had been playing a few card games with Sarah today. Carlos had mentioned it was fine as long as I didn't bring up anything she probably shouldn't know. We were having a bit of fun when Nick and Helen burst through the door.

"What's the matter Nick?" Luke came over quizzing his friend. They bent over panting and Nick held up his finger as if asking Luke to give him a second. After about ten seconds he stood upright.

"Haven't run that fast in years, not since those bikers we pissed off. Anyway there's a herd heading right for this place from the west. We have to go, now." Luke nodded and everyone got packing. Everyone except Sarah and I. I stood up and tugged Luke's shirt as he searched through some cupboards.

"What do I do?" I asked. He stopped his packing and craned his neck to look over to me.

"You and Sarah need to go to Carlos and listen to him ok?" I nodded and went back into the living room. Carlos was already there talking to his daughter. He noticed me and waved me over.

"I want you two to grab a bag and gather anything that could be useful. Nick, how long do we have?" Nick came back inside after giving Caine the news.

"About ten more minutes and they'll be here for sure." Carlos muttered under his breath and nodded to us. Sarah and I ran upstairs and grabbed things like clothes, a book and even some spare bullets I saw lying around. After about five minutes Luke called everyone downstairs. Just before I headed down I remembered something I saw on my first night. I crawled under Pete's bed and grabbed a shiny golden watch.

"Clementine?" Pete called. I rushed down the stairs and handed the watch to Pete. "Thanks, I was wondering where I left that." I smiled when Luke grabbed our attention.

"Alright everyone, we're going to be heading further north. Make sure you have everything because we won't be coming back here anytime soon." We all nodded and went outside. Caine was already there with his hikers pack. He saw me and threw me something.

"Take this hammer kid. It's a hell of a lot less noisy then that there pistol." I barely caught it and hefted it in my hand. It felt somewhat comfortable so I accepted it. "So let's leg it people." Caine called. Luke led the way as we ran from the cabin. No sense staying there anymore. I could barely hear the groans of the herd as we left the cabin.

**Just before nightfall**

Everyone groaned and took their packs off. Today had been an uneventful day. We'd been walking for about two hours which nobody was used to by the groans. Luke and Nick started to gather up sticks and logs from the ground to build a fire. Alvin began to drag a fallen tree log over to Rebecca, with Pete's help, so she could sit on it by the fire pit. It had enough room for the both of them.

"Crazy day huh kid?" Caine smiled, shaking his head. "Not the first time I've had to move. I used to live in Greece you know. I moved to America but shit wasn't right here. So I left for Australia. Most people can't take the heat there but I could, even with a bloody jumper on. I came back up here to visit a friend of mine." He lost his smile and looked off into the darkness. "Second I stepped off the plane some asshole tried to chew my face off. Luckily I'm an excellent packer and I know over a hundred tricks to get past the airport with weapons. Stabbed the fucker and legged it out of there. Never did feel safe so always kept my knife on me."

"Why was that?" I asked him. He turned back to me.

"Ever broken a promise kid?" I shook my head slowly. "Good, keep it that way. You see, once enough people lie about their promises you begin to doubt humanity." He rubbed his eyes. "Never in my life have I made a promise, it's easier not to break them that way." He chuckled to himself and shook his head. "Guess that'll never get written down."

"You seem like a very untrusting person." I stated. He nodded his head and crossed his arms.

"Well yeah I've had my fair share of fuck-ups. You see, humanity is a doomed species. If the dead don't win, the living will kill each other off. We were fucked before this bloody virus, fungus, prion or whatever the fuck it is. We were destroying this planet so the gods flicked the reset switch. Huh, fucking bastards." He peered into the darkness like he just saw something and walked off.

"Wait? Where are you going? I called after him. He ignored me and continued into the darkness. Helen came over and placed her hand upon my shoulder.

"It's ok, he always does that. Come join the fire." She escorted me to the fire to keep warm. Everyone had gathered so I took my place next to Helen and Carlos. Nick looked rather impatient about… whatever was cooking on the fire. "When's this thing going to be finished Uncle Pete?" Mocked Helen in her best Nick impersonation. Everyone chuckled, even Nick.

"Well Nick…" He joked looking over at Helen. "…it should take about…" He was cut off when there was a rustling of bushes nearby. Everyone stood up and formed a sort of wall between the trees and Sarah and I. I heard some voices approaching.

"Fucks sake since when is walking around the woods in the dark ever a good idea?" I heard a female speak. A male laughed in response.

"Because bandits can't spot us." He retorted. We still couldn't see who was there.

"No need to get snappy." Lee said. Wait? Lee? That was without a doubt his voice! I'd know it anywhere!"

"Le…!" I tried to call out but Nick covered my mouth. He looked at me like I was crazy. The voices had stopped and the footsteps approached us.

"Fucks sake kid well done." Nick hissed. I didn't care. I wriggled from his grip and pushed my way through. The people emerged and I could clearly see who they were.

"Lee!" I ran forth and hugged him. He just looked down wide eyed and turned to Kenny and Carley. I hugged him even tighter to make sure he was real. I pinched him hard and he flinched.

"Ow! What was that for?" He laughed, finally hugging me back.

"Just so that you'd know this was real." I giggled. I let my tears roll down my cheeks. These weren't tears of sadness, they were tears of joy. The cabin survivors slowly lowered their weapons. "What were you doing out here?" I asked.

"Actually, we never stopped looking for you. We never stopped tracking you and that asshole that kidnapped you." Lee laughed. "I was sure I'd find you sooner or later, I knew it." I backed away from the hug.

"Who else made it?" I had to know. Who died looking for me?

"Well, we were scouting ahead but the others are back at our place. The total group is me, Kenny, Carley, Omid, Christa, Chuck and a new girl called Rochelle." Kenny came forth and embraced me.

"Damn kid you'd never believe had much I missed you." He picked me up and swung me about a little. Carley came forward next and crouched down to hug me.

"You've grown a little." She hugged me and I hugged her back. Suddenly Caine burst through the trees and grinned at the newcomers.

"I knew I heard your voice." Caine ran forth and gave Carley a bear hug. "I never thought I'd see you again big cousin."

"Please Caine just call me Carley." She laughed. I looked up at Caine. He smiled at me and let Carley go.

"I never thought the Carley you mentioned was actually my cousin. Tell you a secret, she's stupid." Carley punched his arm and laughed. "I'm serious, at my place you fucking put the batteries in upside down." Lee burst into laughter.

"Even as a kid you couldn't handle batteries." Carley grinned and kissed him on the cheek. Pete grunted and everyone turned to him.

"As lovely as this is we don't need to attract every lurker within five miles. Also, we need introductions." Everyone agreed and gathered around the fire. Lee and I sat a little further away. Lee reached into his bag and pulled something out.

"I got this for you." He smiled, handing me my cap. I grinned from ear to ear and thanked him. I placed it onto my head and moaned at the feeling of having it back on my head. "It's been a long time sweet pea."

"It has." I sigh. I rest my head upon his lap and look up at him. "Could you sing me to sleep?" He chuckled and looked down at me.

"You know I can't sing." I nodded and he rolled his eyes. After a few seconds I heard him humming softly. I closed my eyes slowly and let the sleep seep into me.

**The next day**

_I knew it was a dream. Lee couldn't have come back. It was just all thought up while I slept last night. I don't even remember falling asleep last night. That's how tired I must have been. The sun was rising so I got up and stretched. I looked around and found everyone was wrapped up tightly and sleeping._

_"Morning everyone." I grin. They all stir slowly and get up. But there's something off about it. The way they got up was strange. The group turned to me and shuffled slowly in my direction. "Oh no." I groaned. Everyone was a walker. I backed away slowly until I fell backwards off of a cliff. I didn't even know there was a cliff nearby. I kept falling until I felt something hit my head._

**Reality**

I groaned and got up slowly. I had tripped and hit my head on the dirt. Wait? I wasn't even walking. How could I have tripped? I heard Lee having a go at Carlos.

"What do you mean she's done this before?" He growled. Carlos held up his hands in defence.

"She's been having strange nightmares since we found her. At first she just had small fits as she slept. Then she began to mumble and swing her arms about. Now she's sleepwalking. I don't know what to do with her but she's obviously been traumatized. She almost never remembers a thing from it though."

"Whatever, what do we do about it?" I sat up and Lee came over and picked me up. "It's ok Clementine, you just tripped while sleep walking. You stood up, muttered something, then proceeded to walk backwards is all." Lee stroked my hair soothingly.

"We might actually need to tie her down at night; it's too dangerous to let her sleepwalk nowadays." Carlos suggested. Lee took note and sat down with me.

"Everything is going to be ok Clementine. Once we get back to our group then everything will be fine." I nodded slowly and rubbed my forehead. It had a small bruise because of my fall. What has been causing such terrible nightmares? I decided to put it off for now.

"Where is your group?" I asked Lee, looking into his eyes. He looked off into the trees and smiled.

"Should be only about an hour's walk to some shack in the woods. I don't see how the small old shack serves any purpose out here. It's barely big enough to put everyone inside comfortably." By now everyone was up and getting ready to move.

"I guess we are to head to wherever your people are. They better not shoot us." Lee went over to Carlos to explain where they were and that they probably wouldn't shoot us.

**Fifty minutes in**

"I think we're here." Lee grinned. There was a very small shack in front of us. He knocked on the door when Omid answered. "We found her this time, with some friends." Omid widened his eyes when he saw me.

"Oh my god no way, Clementine! Lee found her guys!" He ran out and hugged me who was followed by Christa. Chuck made his way out and smiled to see me. The woman who I assumed as Rochelle stepped out and looked at each of us suspiciously.

"Who's this lot? The gods are obviously playing at something." Caine stepped forth and muttered something to here.

"Deorum est ex spatio, est scientia experientia?" She turned to him and smiled.

"Bene vidisti, it's true. Nice to see I'm not the only one." She shook his hand gladly. "So I'm taking it the gods are gifting us, not messing with us." Carley raised her eyebrows.

"You two know each other?" Caine shook his head and draped his arm over her shoulder.

"Nope, we just follow the same beliefs." He shook his cousin gently as he explained. "We're not necessarily allowed to speak of what it is without their consent." He gestured up into the sky.

"That boy is fucking wack." Nick muttered. Caine ignored him and just went walking down the road. "Where the fuck are you going?"

"Well you lot have reunited, now let's keep moving forth. Onwards and upwards!" He called. Everyone just shrugged and followed behind him, giving small introductions to the newcomers. Eventually it landed on Rochelle.

"So I was born in Sweden but my parents moved to America once I was two. We kind of lived in Washington DC but I left the second those corpses rose from their slumber. I was military but they only care for themselves, so I ditched them. I don't care if they execute me for deserting because that lot were a load of bull. Then it turned out the military actually tried to help out Washington's people. I just shrugged it off. Not much fazes me." She always held her hand near her gun just in case.

"The gods always fuck with us don't they?" Caine called to her. She just shrugged and kept silent. We were moving north when Luke stopped everyone. He pulled something out and eventually addressed everyone.

"Now I don't know about the rest of you but our group are just heading north. You can leave at any time you wish if you have other plans." Nobody really argued against his plan. "So we have about four days until we reach the mountains but we may not need to go that far. Let's hope not because we really don't have that much food." We continued on our way when Sarah came to talk to me.

"Are you going to leave with your group now?" I hadn't really wanted to but I'd only known these other people for three or four days. Was there much point in staying?

"I don't know; let's just see how this plays out first." Sarah nodded and hurried back to her father's side.

**Lee's back bitches! Andrew St John didn't seem so significant but he will be later even though he's dead. So Clementine's nightmares have been getting worse over time. Carlos doesn't even know what to do anymore. You may notice her dream state is now in italics to make it easier to tell between reality and the dream world. Carlos seems protective of Clementine probably because she's only eight. I thought of experimenting with this closer relationship between Carlos and Clementine. I had to edit this chapter because I forgot about Chuck! Until then, remember what's real and what a dream.**


	5. FUBAR

**Hey hey guys! I'm back with another chapter of Innocence. I know I've really been cranking them out lately but I just love this story. I have so many great plans for future chapters and this story will finally break my five chapter law. I just noticed recently that I unknowingly never released more than five chapters per story. This will definitely break that. Sorry for the delay but my favourite teacher died from brain cancer. I'll always miss you Luke Westaway.**

**WARNING! This is a very horrific chapter at the end. You have been warned.**

**Clementine**

It was around midday when I first heard the moans. They were all around us. We didn't really notice how quickly we'd get surrounded. I pulled out my pistol as they began to advance on our position. Caine took out his IMI Galil and fired a few bursts into the thickest clusters. It was a silenced weapon so it helped with not attracting more. Lee's entire group had silenced weapons as well so the rest of us just kept back.

"We might need a smidgen of help here." Caine muttered. Everyone snapped out of their fear and advanced forth with melee weapons in arms. I approached the nearest walker and raised my hammer. Another one came from the right and knocked me over, smacking my head onto the dirt. I only heard two loud gunshots before it went black.

**Dream World**

_A strange looking man slowly came up to me. He had Luke's machete in his hand while I saw everyone but Caine tied to chairs, who was nowhere to be seen. He smiled wickedly at me and untied my left hand and grabbed my wrist. Kenny was yelling and pleading for the man to stop but this made his smile broaden._

"_This little pinkie all alone..." He chuckled, hacking off my pinkie finger. I knew this was a dream but it felt so real. "…with his buddy by his side…" He hacked off my ring finger as well. I was screaming at this point along with Sarah. "…the asshole was next to go…" My middle finger was next to get hacked. I couldn't tear my eyes away. "…when his friend pointed and laughed…" He sliced my pointer off and cackled. "…leaving poor old thumbo later then the rest, bringing the whole party with him." He raised Luke's blade up high and brought it down onto my entire hand, severing it completely._

"_You sick mother fucker." Lee cried, tears running down his face. The man turned to him and dangled one of my fingers in front of his face._

"_Want to know what Vass Montenegro said?" One of the man's friends called to him._

"_Eristien, wasn't it Albert Einstein first?" He growled and spat at the floor._

"_Shut up I liked that game. Either way, do you want to learn the definition of insanity?"_

**Reality**

I felt the sting across my cheek to know that I'd just been slapped awake. I lifted my left hand in front of my face without even knowing why. Lee hugged me tightly. I just groaned.

"What happened this time?" I begged, looking up at Lee, Carlos and Luke. Lee looked away leaving it up to Luke and Carlos. It was Luke who ended up spilling the beans.

"You started screaming and clutching your hand but suddenly jerking it forward as if someone pulled it." Luke choked. He took a few breaths to calm himself. I was getting really scared at this point.

"Do they mean something? I don't ever remember something happening like that in the past. The first one was about being a liability, the second was loosely based on what happened to Sandra, the third one I was backing away from something and now I'm screaming and clutching my hand." I panicked. I wanted to know what the hell was going on. I began to have an anxiety attack or something.

"What's she doing?" Lee barked to the doctor. He sighed and crouched to me.

"It's ok, my daughter does this sometimes." He placed his hand onto my shoulder and I didn't even flinch. He smiled to me and squeezed my shoulder. "Everything is going to be ok Clementine. We'll figure this out I promise." I had regained control of myself when I muttered.

"Never make a promise otherwise you will break it." Carlos looked confused for a second before standing up and glaring at Caine.

"Have you been filling this girl's head with crap again?" He made his way over to the strange man who cursed to himself.

"To kátharma, I was just saying I don't trust people alright?" Carlos made it over to him when they began to argue quietly. I suddenly noticed something.

"Wait? Is everybody ok? Did we lose anyone?" I glanced around quickly and saw no immediate missing people. Lee shook his head.

"It's fine honey we all made it out ok. After you got knocked out it took Carlos a millisecond to shoot those two walkers at you. Nobody suffered more than a head injury." Lee joked, nudging my shoulder. I smiled and felt my bandaged head. I hadn't noticed it was in a bandage before. Lee handed me my hat. "It fell off so I grabbed it." That's twice he'd done that.

"Thanks Lee." I grin at him. Helen had made her way over and smiled at the two of us.

"Aww that's so adorable. So you really do care for this girl a lot?" Helen inquired. Lee nodded his head and hugged me in a sort of sideways hug. "Good, because sometimes I need a break from her adorableness to take care of my son." She mumbled, shaking her head as Nick tried to perform a handstand beside Luke. "Those two idiots are always competing at something. One of these days…" She sighed, making her way over to them. Nick fell forth so Luke burst out laughing.

**Afternoon**

I groggily sat down and rubbed the side of my head. My head really hurt after that bump to my head. Carlos and Caine couldn't stop glaring at one another. They always seemed to be butting heads. Stupid male brains, always going headstrong. Then again that's just evolution for you.

"Don't worry about a thing Clem, those two are always arguing about something which Caine usually wins." Luke chuckled. I was somewhat relieved that this was normal and not because of my presence. "So you're the famous Lee. The one who tore across Savannah and then three other states looking for Clementine. I'd tip my hat to you but I'm not wearing one."

"Yeah I'm Lee. Never did give up on the girl. You must never lose hope over these sorts of things." Luke nodded in agreement and wandered off to Nick's location. I sighed once they soon began to climb a tree.

"They're like kids. Always competing, never serious unless necessary." I stretched my legs out in front of me and groaned. "I have been walking for too long Lee. I might need a piggy back ride soon." Lee chuckled and shook his head.

"No can do sweet pea. I have enough to lug around on my back as is. I will if your legs do get really tired if you want, or anyone else. They can't refuse you." I giggled and rubbed my sore legs. Walking sucked. If only we were tireless like the walkers, then we'd really get some distance.

"Ah Christ!" I heard Nick call. He was hanging upside down in the tree with his foot caught between two branches. Helen snapped at him but Pete just laughed. She turned and decided to snap at Pete a little as well.

"Kids." I mutter to which Lee sniggers. I knew something stupid would happen sooner or later. In no time Nick was free and Luke couldn't stop making fun of him. This didn't stop Helen from telling them off.

"Reminds me of my childhood." Lee murmured. "My brother and I were always doing some crazy shit…"

"Swear."

"…like jumping out of moving vehicles pretending to be spies. They never went much faster than ten miles per hour though." His grin kept growing as he told the story. After he'd finished though he'd dropped it, shaking his head. "Seems like forever now." I tried to stand up to take a little walk around. Lee just left me to it.

I wondered around the small area seeing what everyone was doing. Nick, Luke and Pete were in a huddle with Helen watching close by, Carlos and Caine were glaring, Rebecca and Alvin were chatting amongst themselves, Kenny, Chuck and Rochelle were checking their ammo, Carley now made her way over to Lee and Sarah sat alone. I strolled over to her and waved, bounding on the spot.

"Hey Clementine." She gleefully acknowledged. I sat down beside her and had a look at what she was doing.

"What's that?" I ask, pointing to a small object in her hands. She shrugs and turns it over. It looks like a card with lots of numbers. "Where'd you get that?"

"I found it on the ground here. I wanted to try figure it out before I asked anyone." We kept studying the card but we just couldn't figure it out. Carlos came over when Sarah thrust the card forth. "What is this dad?

"Oh?" He crouched down to take it in his hand. He looked at it for a second before smiling. "It's a credit card. Haven't seen one of these in ages. Some people used it when they were trying to save money." We both look at him rather confused. "It's an adult thing."

"I've been hearing that a lot lately." I mutter, remembering the jokes I can't get that Nick and Luke often tell. "It's getting really annoying being really young." Carlos grunted and shook his head.

"I can only imagine." He got up from his crouch and made his way to the pregnant Rebecca. After a little while Christa approached the doctor. She whispered something to him so he nodded. What was going on between those two? I decided to put it off until later. No need to butt into Christa's personal business.

**Later that night**

Our large group of at least fourteen people gathered around the fire. I haven't been in a group this big since the motor inn at Macon. It would have been nice if Glenn stayed but Lee told me he went to see if his friends were ok.

"We should be safe against lurker attack." Luke grinned. Everyone was questioning why he was bothering to say such a thing. "I found this." He held up a sort of mesh that was mostly fine. "It's Crimsafe." He laughed. Everyone but Sarah and I joined in, oblivious to what exactly was being said.

"I swear if this is another adult joke…" I growled light-heartedly. Everyone calmed down and Kenny explained as best he could to me what it was about. After a second explanation he sighed and lay upon his back. "I never really watched many ads, they were boring and sucked." I muttered. Everyone kind of just nodded in agreement. We slowly all began to grumble our goodnights and head off to sleep except me. Carlos was on watch and waved me over.

"You don't feel safe?" He quizzed me worriedly. I sighed and nodded my head.

"Who knows what I might do next." I curled up into a ball next to him. "I just don't want to hurt anyone." I sniffled and held back my tears. "I'm scared Carlos, I'm really, really scared." I managed to hold my tears at bay for now. Carlos sighed and pulled me to his side and embraced me.

"I'll try everything in my power to help you. That's a promise. I don't care if Caine's lot faith in humanity but I sure as hell haven't." I liked having Carlos around. He really cared for me lately, protecting me a lot. Suddenly I felt something grabbing at me. Something that wasn't actually there. Pulling at my consciousness. I felt my eyelids droop.

"Oh no, please… Carlos…"

**Dream World**

_I gasped and looked around me to see I wasn't in the real world anymore. I would have to try and remember this as best I could. I stood up and found the whole area was really foggy. I couldn't even see my own hand in front of me. I heard the unmistakeable sound of walkers and made a reach for my handgun. It suddenly flew out of my hand with such a force it was almost as if someone slapped it._

"_Carlos? If I speak this wake me up now. There's fog and walkers." I waited a few seconds but I was greeted with nothing. It was worth a shot. I tried yelling this time. "Carlos! Are you there?" This time I heard faint whispering. I tried louder when a walker grabbed me. I screamed and pulled out a knife and stabbed its arm. That was when it reeled back in pain. Wait? Walkers don't feel pain._

"_She got me man." I heard Nick yell. Oh god, I actually stabbed Nick. I threw my knife into the fog and heard some yells of shock. I yelled into the fog to try get their attention._

"_Wake me up now! Please! Help!" I felt the world tilt and I began to roll down a hill. I hope that it wasn't happening in the real world. "Please! God's sake help me!" I was screaming. That was when the familiar sting was felt._

**Reality**

I shot upright and saw Sarah in front of me. She slapped me awake? But she's… so innocent right? I rubbed my cheek and Sarah embraced me.

"I'm so sorry Clementine but you started to scream for help and…" We both began to ry lightly. I couldn't actually remember a thing this time. Not even a millisecond. I saw Rebecca and Nick glaring at me, Nick clutching his arm. It was bleeding.

"What… was that me? Oh god." I placed my hands over my head and began to hyperventilate. This was getting out of control. I didn't like hurting people let alone Nick. Carlos and Lee came over to calm me down as best as they could. The second they approached I screamed. "No! Get away!" Lee was rather hurt by my outburst and backed off but Carlos kept coming. "No! Stop! Just leave me here!" Carlos actually looked angry at this point.

"No!" He yelled at the top of his voice. "I promised I would help you and I will. You will accept help whether you like it or not. We are not leaving you alone to die." He said sternly. I had shrunk back from him. He'd never yelled like that before. Even Sarah had backed away from her father.

"Carlos mate that was a bit harsh. She's not even your own." Caine muttered. Carlos whipped around and glared at him. "What are you going to do then?" Caine tested. Carlos actually strolled right up to him and growled. "You wouldn't fight me. Nobo…" He was cut off when Carlos had planted a firm punch to his jaw.

"Don't you dare tell me how to care for a little girl." He spat. Caine smirked and rose to his feet. He swung a punch at the doctor who simply grabbed his wrist and jabbed his stomach. Caine chuckled and took another swing, lower this time. Carlos grabbed his other wrist and kicked his knee out.

"You are not winning your first fight mate." Caine growled, kicking his shins. Carlos collapsed and pulled out a knife. This was when people decided that it was enough. Nick and Luke grabbed Carlos while Alvin and Lee grabbed Caine.

"Both of you calm the fuck down." Luke called. Carlos gave up and slumped in the men's grip. Caine himself wriggled from the grip and ran off into the trees. Carley sighed and shook her head.

"He'll be back. He loathes losing a fight." Carlos pulled his arms free and rubbed his head, finally realising what he had just done. I had actually crawled into a bush during the fight to escape the madness. He turned to go to me but I wasn't there.

"Clementine? No! Where are you Clem?" He panicked and looked around along with everyone else. Rochelle sighed and made her way over to me. I was certain nobody saw me.

"Just look at the tracks genius." She motioned to the drag marks I'd left on the ground, leading to the bush I was hiding behind. Just before she could fetch me a group of five men came forth, assault weapons in their hands. I recognised Danny St John but not the others.

"Troy? When did you leave Carver?" Luke inquired rather shocked to see him here. Troy ignored him and turned to a tall German man who didn't have any weapon.

"So what do you think boss?" The large man surveyed everyone and smiled slowly.

"They'll do." He waved to signal his men to round everyone up. I was still in the bush when the big man eyed it suspiciously. He came forth and grabbed my arm, pulling me out. "You were hiding were you? Ich wollte schon immer einen kleinen lecken." He grinned wickedly and bound my hands behind my back. "Esccort these fucks to base, I have some fun to be had." He looked down at me as he said this. "Ich werde dich zerstören."

**The leader's base.**

We head been walking for about an hour when we finally saw a building. It looked like a big shed or warehouse. The door rolled up as Troy pulled on a chain outside. Inside were a bunch of chairs with straps on them.

"Strap em all down. They need to watch this." He grinned as everyone was stripped of weapons and strapped down tightly. He grinned and strapped me to a special chair labelled 'toy' or something. "It won't hurt I promise." He whistled and had a look at the weapons in front of him. Suddenly, everything flooded into my head.

"I've seen you before." I mutter. He stops and turns to face me.

"I have never seen you though." He glares. I gulp, remembering where I saw him. "I saw you in my dream; you were going to kill me." He slowly came up to me. He made a move to stroak my hair but I pulled away. He went to unzip my jeans when one of his men call out.

"There's a herd coming, hurry the fuck up." He grabbed Luke's machete in his hand. He smiled wickedly at me and untied my left hand and grabbed my wrist. Kenny was yelling and pleading for the man to stop but this made his smile broaden.

"Don't do this! This is insane!" Kenny was on the verge of tears now.

"This little pinkie all alone..." He chuckled, hacking off my pinkie finger. I screamed very loudly and tried to pull away. Sarah also screamed just as loud while everyone called out their protests. "…with his buddy by his side…" He hacked off my ring finger as well. Everyone was basically crying over what this man was doing to me. "…the asshole was next to go…" My middle finger was next to get hacked. I couldn't tear my eyes away. The pain was so unbearable. "…when his friend pointed and laughed…" He sliced my pointer off and cackled. "…leaving poor old thumbo later then the rest, bringing the whole party with him." He raised Luke's blade up high and brought it down onto my entire hand, severing it completely.

"You sick mother fucker." Lee cried, tears running down his face. The man turned to him and dangled one of my fingers in front of his face. He then tossed it to Danny who caught it and took a bite.

"Want to know what Vass Montenegro said?" He asked. One of the man's friends called to him.

"Eristien, wasn't it Albert Einstein first?" He growled and spat at the floor, muttering something in German.

"Shut up I liked that game. Either way, do you want to learn the definition of insanity?" Lee spat in the man's eye but my world was spinning. One of the guards called out.

"They're almost on top of us. Hurry up with that monologue thing." He ran out and I heard a truck start.

"Insanity is doing the exact... same fucking thing... over and over again, expecting... shit to change. Everywhere I looked, all these fucking pricks, everywhere I looked, doing the exact same fucking thing... over and over and over and over again. Do you think I am bullshitting you? Do you think I am lying? Fuck you! Okay? FUCK YOU! It's okay... It's like water under the bridge." He bite Lee's ear and tore it off completely. Lee screamed when Troy came up to him.

"This is fucked Eristien, what the fuck." Troy shoved him but Eristien punched him, knocking him down. He spat at him and walked to a walker and killed it, cutting it open.

"Leave that fuckhead. He deserves to be eaten." He applied walker guts over himself followed by the other men. Troy groaned in pain and sat up slowly. The others made their way into the herd when a crack sound resonated. Eristien clutched his shoulder and ran forth as Caine swung down from the roof.

"Shit, Troy, let them loose and let's…" He saw me, slowly bleeding out and cursed to himself. He ripped the straps off with his bare hands and grabbed his belt, tightening it around my arm. I felt the world slipping as he bandaged my stump and Alvin closed the shutter.

"She ain't gonna die now." I heard Kenny weep. I fell over sideways and the world went black. No dream just… black.

**Well now ain't that a cliff hanger. Eristien is basically your psycho fuck who loves pain and cruelty. So yeah, Clementine might be dead. I will actually roll a dice to see if this happens. I will intentionally make it a low roll because this is mainly about her but if she dies it will be about the group trying to hold together after her death. Until then watch for anyone named Eristien.**


	6. Who's Marilyn?

**Fuck yes! This chapter is very special as it marks my first ever story to pass chapter five. I don't know why my others never did but I have reasons for some. The season three stories were planned to be in five episodes with four chapters but they always had an intro chapter. Never Again will be continuing past five but it is currently on hold. Altered Season was only meant to be two chapters but extended to four and just happened to have a fifth to explain Luke's fate. My other stories just haven't reached that point yet. Anyway, let's pray to the gods Clementine lives! Caine's personalities will be shown in this chapter so read up on them before reading here on my profile page.**

**No P.O.V**

"Fuck no! Not again, please! Not like Marilyn." Caine wrapped the bandage even tighter and even tightened the belt until it was almost digging into the young child's skin. Everyone was very nervous because she had lost a lot of blood before she could be helped. The only one not crying right now was Caine. Mainly because it was actually Bok at work who found it hard to cry over anything.

"That girl is tough, she'll make it." Chuck muttered quietly. Nobody needed telling twice. Clementine was tough. No way would she just give up now. After Bok/Caine had finished they stood back and grabbed her other wrist. He set it down and smiled slowly.

"She's alive right? She'll be ok?" Kenny begged. Caine nodded and picked the girl up and began to carry her to the door at the other end of the warehouse.

**This was the dice roll outcome. I wanted a very minimal chance of death but it still had to exist.**

**1: Clementine dies, 2-6: Clementine lives**

**I rolled a four and just punched at the air in excitement. Someday this dice rolling is gonna piss me off. It did in Altered Season.**

Caine was now back in control and looked at the girl in his arms. Her breathing was shallow but still there. He was determined to get her out of here. He kicked the door which literally fell off its hinges. Kenny looked shocked at his sudden strength.

"He always seems abnormally strong when he's determined. He pushed a bus off of me when I almost got run over once with little effort." Everyone quickly followed Caine as he entered a building conjoined to the warehouse they were just in.

"Fuck we need to get the hell out. We can't stroll through the herd because Clem's leaking too much. Shit, Lee we need to fix your ear." Omid gently touched where Lee's ear used to be. Lee shoved him off gently and muttered about being fine. Omid bandaged his head regardless and everyone rushed around trying to find something of use.

"Shit, we forgot our weapons." Alvin muttered running back into the warehouse. Everyone kept searching for anything when he arrived back with a duffle bag, setting it down. "Everyone gear up, we might need to shoot our way out." Everybody grabbed their stuff just in case. A few windows began to break as walkers clambered inside. "Shit"

"We need to hold them back! Rochelle, Rebecca, Sarah, Carlos and Caine stay back. The rest of us hold them off." Lee ordered. Everyone followed without question. They charged forth and hacked or smashed the walkers that entered. Rochelle found a door blocked by a few boxes and knocked them down.

"Found a door out back!" She called to the others. She tried to open it but it was locked. She kicked it to no avail. "Curses!" Caine ran forth and smashed into it with his foot, knocking it off its hinges once more. "Damn boy that's one helluva kick. Let's move out people!" As they went to leave, two people cried out in agony.

**Who was bitten? Let's roll to see. Nobody major will be bitten yet. A certain character will possibly survive the bite if they get rolled.**

**1: Pete, 2: Omid, 3: Helen, ****4: Alvin****, 5: Chuck, ****6: Carley**

**I rolled a four three times when I realised something. I put Nick down so decided to replace him with Helen as I found his developing friendship with Clementine too much to throw at yet. So yeah Carley gets bit but she was the one I said would maybe survive the initial bite.**

Alvin was grabbed and bitten right in the jugular, killing him instantly. Troy managed to stab the walker on him but Rebecca cried out in grief. Carley didn't realise the walker crawling towards her. It sunk its teeth into her calf so she shot it quickly. She panicked slightly but ran off to regroup with the others. She closed her eyes as everyone saw her bite but she gave Alvin his mercy shot before they all left out the back door.

As they were running Caine suddenly stopped everyone. He looked back down at the girl in his arms and choked. He couldn't hear her breaths anymore. He checked her pulse once more just to make sure.

**Sorry another possible Clem death.**

**1: Died, 2-6: Lives**

**Got a fucking six, hell yes.**

He breathed a sigh of relief once he felt the girl's faint pulse under her wrist. Everyone turned to Carley who looked down at her leg.

"We have to try cutting it off, it's worth a shot. It worked for my cousin down at Ainsworth." Pete suggested. Carley merely nodded and set her leg out straight. Everyone looked to one another waiting for someone to volunteer. Troy went to volunteer but Chuck beat him to it.

"I've done it before I got this." Chuck muttered. He went forth and grabbed Luke's hatchet he offered Chuck. Carley grinded her teeth as Chuck raised the weapon above his head. He brought it down with such tremendous force it almost went clean through in one strike. Carley screamed very loudly attracting the nearby herd.

"We have to hurry." Nick rushed. Chuck took another swing and cut her leg further. He had to take two more swings before it came off. Carley collapsed as Chuck tightened the belt around her leg. Caine threw him the bandages and he got to work.

"Shit, we're out of time Chuck." Christa muttered. Chuck glanced up and noticed the herd approaching at least fifty meters away. "Hurry up old man." Chuck scowled the woman and lifted her over his shoulder.

"I ain't old." He muttered. Everyone took off at full speed to escape the herd. They could hear a few guns going off and a scream or two most likely from the remains of the crazed assholes.

**A short time later**

Everyone was still running but they were beginning to slow down. Everyone panted in exhaustion. Chuck was about to speak when Carley groaned over his shoulder. She didn't move so she might not have turned.

Caine, how's our little fighter doing?" Pete asked him. Caine picked up her wrist and felt for a pulse. This was a big moment as he searched for her pulse.

**There have been quite a few dice rolls this chapter.**

**1,2: Carley turns, 3-6: Carley lives**

**Got another six. If she turned then Chuck would have been bit on the shoulder. Now Clem.**

**1: Die, 2-6: Live**

**Got a three. Her luck continues on. Tough little bitch. I'm avoiding another dice roll to make sure she doesn't lose this lucky streak. It took me two more rolls to get a one. Lucky her.**

He chuckled softly and laid her wrist upon her chest. He moved a strand of hair from her pale face to get a better look at her. She really was a beautiful child in Caine's eyes. He always had a weak spot for kids.

"She'll be fine… mostly. Because… you know… considering." Caine responded. The girl stirred in his arms. Carlos came over so Caine relinquished her to him. Carlos was a better doctor then Caine was as a part-time doctor.

"We fucking lost Alvin, Clem lost her hand, Carley her leg, Lee his ear and we have no idea where we are." Nick grumbled. Rebecca cried harder at the mention of Alvin. Omid came over and smiled.

"On the bright side we still only technically lost one person. It could have been three." Omid was always trying to lighten the tone. Nick just scoffed and muttered to himself.

"Omid honey maybe it's not always a good idea to mention that as a good thing." Christa muttered to her lover. Omid nodded in agreement. He realised he could have said it in his head first.

"So until the doc treats Clem, Lee and Carey we just stay put for now. It's not a good idea to keep moving with three injured." Luke suggested. Nobody else really had any better idea when suddenly Nick spoke up.

"What about this asshole, he was with Carver remember." Nick gestured to Troy who had been standing distant from everyone. "Plus he was with that psycho." Luke actually went and defended Troy which surprised everyone.

"Yeah but he was against that other guy remember? He took a beating because he thought what he was doing was wrong." Nick just rose his hands in defeat and muttered some more. Troy thanked Luke silently but Luke actually had a question. "Why did you leave Carver?" Troy sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"After your lot left he kind of went mental. He killed Reggie right in front of everyone and even took a shot at Bonnie since she was actually on duty where you escaped. So a riot broke out when Bonnie and I tried to escape together. We got separated and I wondered around until Eristien found me and took me in. I didn't realise he was worse than Carver until now."

"Well that don't matter now you're with us." Rochelle nodded. Troy nodded back and sat down against a tree. It was going to be a while before Carlos finished on the others so everyone decided unanimously to get some rest.

**A short time later**

Carlos called everyone over to talk to them. Everybody present dreaded his next words. They could be either Carley's dead or Clementine's dead. They all shambled over to Carlos's position.

"Do you wish for the good or bad news?" Carlos asked. This caused everyone to tense up not knowing what the bad news was. But then again the bad news could be just about anything.

"Always the bad news first, let's get that out of the way." Muttered Kenny remembering those words Lee said in Savannah. Carlos sighed and looked at both of the unconscious girls. After a few seconds he twisted around back to them.

**I lied! More rolling! Sorry for all these chances but they did lose a lot of blood.**

**1: Clem/Carley dies, 2-6: Clem/Carley live.**

**Oh god, got a two for Clem! Also got a two for Carley. Fuck the gods are really scaring me now.**

"Since they lost a lot of blood we don't know how weak they'll be, or how their missing limbs will affect their survival chances. Personally I'd rather be in Clem's shoes. I'd rather get away from the dead then be able to fight them." Carlos sighed shaking his head. The chances Clementine would survive were still rather low to begin with.

"So… they're fine? Well not fine but… alive?" Caine begged. Carlos nodded his head so everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Does nobody care about me?" Lee chuckled. Kenny helped him to his feet and hugged him. "Well this is… different." Lee had never experienced this side of Kenny.

"You're the greatest friend I've ever had. I don't want to lose you yet." Lee laughed as he noticed the 'yet' but thought nothing of it. After everyone had their little chats they dispersed to do whatever they did best.

**Clementine**

_I groaned and sat upright. My hand burned like crazy when I noticed… it wasn't there. I clutched my wrist and began to panic, events flooding back into my mind. That crazy man hacking off my fingers, chopping my hand clean off, biting Lee's whole ear off. I looked around and found everyone else asleep. Even Nick had fallen asleep against a tree. I heard the groans and turned to see walkers slipping out of the trees._

"_Walkers!" I screamed. People stirred and sat up but Kenny, Pete and Chuck got bitten in the neck or shoulders. Everybody snapped into action and grabbed their stuff. More walkers were coming from behind them. "They're behind you!" I yelled. Carlos got grabbed and bitten on the ankle._

"_Caine, grab Clementine and run!" Carlos yelled. Caine nodded and grabbed me, lifting me into his arms. He ran off into the trees despite my protests. I tried to struggle but he snapped._

"_Not now Marilyn!" I shrank back but took note of the name he yelled. Eventually we were so far we couldn't hear the gunshots. Caine panted and placed me down. "I think we're safe." He bent down and placed his hands onto his knees. I rubbed my stump and looked around. All was quiet. Not a single walker in sight, not a single gunshot to be heard, it was kind of eerie. I didn't like being alone out here._

"_So will we go back for them?" I asked Caine. He straightened his back and looked at me. "We can't just leave them now." He snorted and shook his head slowly._

"_I can almost never say no to a kid." He offered his hand which I took gently with my only hand. He hoisted me up and we made our trek back to our camp. "We just got to hope people are ok." I nodded in approval. As we made it back I threw up instantly. Caine growled and tried wiping it off his coat. Everyone was being eaten or eating. Every single one of them. Nobody made it out. "Sorry you had to see this kid." He pulled out his machine gun and shot every walker nearby._

"_Why… how…" I cried softly but it began evident that it wouldn't last. Soon I was bawling my eyes out. Caine patted my shoulder and went about shooting those who are yet to turn. I could not believe I had just lost my entire group because Nick screwed up and fell asleep on watch. "Nick you asshole!" I screamed. Caine glanced over but continued his mercy killing. I saw a strange green, winged monkey and almost cheered._

"_What's the matter kid?" I let out the biggest cheer I could and punched the air. This was a dream, no doubt with that monkey. There was no such thing as flying monkeys._

"_Fuck this dream! I'm coming back to reality!" A massive beam of light crashed into the ground. "I'm coming home assholes! I'm not done yet." A large black and red hand burst out of the ground and crawled its way towards me. "Shit!"_

"_Watch it kid! Magnus's after you!" The hand took a swipe at me but Caine shot at it. It reeled back in pain and swiped him away. The beam of light was still there but there was also a great wooden door._

"_Please be right." I made a run for the wooden door when the hand came crashing down nearby. It shot me backwards into a tree. A large winged creature swooped down and took a swipe at the hand. It was distracted so I took my chance. "Fuck you all!" I whooped and jumped towards the door smashing it with my elbow._

**Reality**

I sat up and looked around quickly. I don't know why but I felt everyone was in danger. Everybody was asleep and Nick was on watch. I rubbed my eyes when I noticed my hand was absent. The events of earlier flooded back into my head. It was crazy in there. I looked to my left and Carley was there missing her leg. I gulped and she twitched. I poked her gently and her eyes fluttered open.

"Uh… fuck… wh-where…?" She groggily looked around at her surroundings. I felt bad for waking her so pretended to still be unconscious but kept a sliver of my eye open so I could just see. She blinked a couple of times and looked around her. She noticed me and frowned. "You didn't deserve that Clementine." Nick heard her and smiled at her.

"You're up. Hang on." He went over and nudged Lee's sleeping frame. He stirred and sat up slowly. "You told me to wake you if either woke." He rubbed his eyes and turned.

"Clem?" He was somewhat disappointed to see it was actually Carley. "Oh… it's not that I'm disappointed you woke up I was just hoping…"

"I get it Lee. You care for this girl more than yourself." Lee made his way over and sat beside her. "It's going to take a while to get used to this." She chuckled gesturing to her stump. At least she was making jokes about it. That was a good sign. I decided to actually try fall back asleep because I felt really weak.

**No P.O.V**

Lee and Carley sat silently chatting about personal things. Nick went back to his watch duty when Rochelle came from the trees. Nick saw her and grinned.

"Find anything?" She beamed at him and waved him over to her.

"I found a bloody house, a proper one." She cheered silently. Nick beamed and called out to the entire group.

"Rise and shine everyone! We're moving out!" Everyone grumbled and got to their feet, and foot. "Someone grab Clementine. Rochelle, lead the way." She nodded her head and everyone grabbed their stuff as Caine grabbed Clementine

**1,2,3: Carley turns and attacks Clem, 4,****5****,6: She's fine**

**Got a five, this was for when Clementine accidentally woke her up.**

Rochelle led them to a house about fifteen minutes away. Eventtually everyone practically crashed through the door.

"Are their beds?" Sarah begged. Rochelle nodded and opened up a door leading to a room with plenty of beds. They all made their picks while Nick sat out front. Chuck came over and nudged him.

"Why don't you sleep? I can take over." Nick nodded and crashed onto the couch. As Nick closed his eyes Chuck kept his open. He scanned the tree's determined to see even a mouse's nose twitch. Clementine had managed to fall back asleep back in the woods but she had begun to toss and turn a little. Lee noticed this and whispered for Carlos.

"Hey Carlos, she's… uh… squirming in her sleep again." Carlos stirred and managed to get up albeit slowly. He actually smiled when he saw her.

"That's actually a good sign. She's dreaming again which means she's not simply unconscious." He went over and grabbed her arms to stop her flailing. She calmed down slowly and actually opened her eyes.

"Carlos?" She mumbled. He sighed in relief and stood up to let Lee take his place. "Lee? Was I spazzing again?" She giggled at her choice of words. Lee chuckled along with her. "I need to ask Caine something?" Lee looked at her questioningly.

"Uh ok sweet pea. Caine! She wants to speak to you." He grumbled and crawled his way over, too lazy to get up and walk. He eyed her suspiciously.

"Who's Marilyn? You mentioned her in my dream." Caine widened his eyes and got to his feet now.

"How do you know her? Never mention her again! I ain't speaking of her right now kid, got that?" He stormed off suddenly into the trees. His outburst woke everyone up. They all looked rather confused.

"You couldn't have known he would act that way Clem." Carley assured her. Clementine was biting back the tears. "He can be somewhat mean at times but this I'm also oblivious to. I haven't seen him for ten years. Clementine nodded slowly and rested her head upon the bed. She didn't need to go to sleep she just wanted to lie down.

**Well there we have it folks. My first ever Chapter 6! *balloons and streamers* Hooray! Anyway we know that Caine had an outburst over the name Marilyn. Her name was Marilyn and since she was mentioned and he went off obviously something happened to her. Until then, don't mention Marilyn.**


	7. Plans Never Go As Planned

**Hello once more dear readers. I've been on a bit of a break from this because of basically an orgasm of school work. So most of my stories have been delayed but I stayed up all night last night and most of the day cranking down on some chapters for my new FNAF story Took The Blame, Re-Altered Season, Reunion In Ruins is still getting storyboarded, Mirror Revenge and of course, Innocence. So hope you enjoy and stay cool. If you weren't cool, too bad you are now.**

**Clementine**

I sighed and rolled over onto my side. Everyone but Chuck and Rochelle were asleep in the rows of beds in front of me. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, scanning the room again. Caine was still absent from his outburst earlier. I still felt terrible for what I did. I wasn't even entirely sure what it was that set him off.

"So dad, where have you been?" I heard Rochelle whisper. I scratched my head and looked at where I heard her from my bed. Was Chuck her father? He was the only other person around. I heard Chuck sigh from where I was.

"Ro, what have I told you? Just call me Chuck; I'm not your real father, just your step-father." I had my answer so I just decided to listen in on their conversation. I'm sure my mother had said it was rude once. "I was going to Savannah but then those dead things came. I ran and eventually found an abandoned train. I stayed in there until Lee's group found me. I tried to save the little girl but I got separated in doing so." I remembered those events. Ben left me to get eaten. "So I ran until I found Kenny wandering around looking for Lee. He had been separated from them after Ben fell from a roof."

"That's so awful." She assumed. She doesn't even know half of it. Chuck grumbled something and continued.

"He told me Lee was looking for that little girl and that she'd been kidnapped. We found Lee, Omid and Christa wandering around near the Marsh house but it was already too late. Clementine wasn't there." He choked up but groaned. "Maybe I should get some shut eye, gonna be a big day tomorrow."

"No kidding. With two amputees and Caine still absent, it's going to be one fun trip." Chuck smiled as he made his way over to one of the many beds. He nodded to me when he noticed I wasn't asleep. I smiled back as he lay back to get comfy. I got up and met Rochelle out front.

"Rochelle?" I whispered. She whipped around but I saw her face relax when she noticed it was only me.

"Hey little one. How are you not tired? You lost that damn hand, and a lot of blood." I shrugged and looked at the bandage. It was so badly soaked with blood and Caine was our second best doctor. Carlos was most likely better. Rochelle patted a spot next to her so I took it. "It looks nasty."

"You won't believe how much it hurt. But that's not the worst part." Rochelle looked at me oddly. "I saw it all happen in a dream first." She widened her eyes and hung her mouth open like a fish.

"Like… like a vision?" Rochelle stuttered. I nodded slowly.

"Except for the fact I completely forgot what happened in the dream until that event." She rubbed her face and slapped herself hard. "What the heck?" I hissed. She smiled and straightened herself up.

"It's ok girl, I just had to slap myself back to reality." She chuckled when I took note of what she said. She reached for my stump slowly and inspected it delicately. I winced every now and then but didn't pull away. "You shouldn't have had to go through that."

"He wouldn't of if I never said anything." I mumbled. She scowled and looked directly into my eyes.

"If you didn't say anything he also would have raped you." I tilted my head at the word. "Right I'm sorry. Ask Lee what it means. Don't get upset if he doesn't tell you. It's not a good word."

"Like a swear?" I chirped. She thought about it for a second.

"No, but it's still not a good word. I have never sworn actually. Wow." She smiled and ruffled my hair. "Oh no, sorry." Her hand had a little blood on it from inspecting my stump. I shrugged it off.

"I've had worse." She thanked me for forgiving her. "A little of my own blood in my hair is nothing." She sighed and looked off into nothingness.

"That's just it, that should be the worse you've had." I hopped from my place next to her and made my way back to the sleeping area. The only one awake was Kenny who was looking out the window.

"Where is that damn kid?" Kenny muttered as he looked back and forth. Obviously he was referring to Caine. Nobody had seen him since he ran off in anger. I just took my place on the bed when I heard Carlos stir. I looked over and found him waking up.

"Clementine? You shouldn't be moving around too much. I'm surprised you even can with the amount of blood you lost." I sighed and lay my head back against the pillow as he came over to check it out.

"It hurts like heck but not as much as it should, that's what worries me." I stated. He began his inspection of the stump as I rambled on a little further. "It should be searing pain right now but it's more just like when you cut yourself. Except the fact I've cut my own arm off." I giggled.

"You should get your rest Clementine. Who knows when you might need to run." I grumbled but complied nonetheless. I lay my head back and looked over at Nick, who was actually awoken by Carlos getting back in bed.

"Hey Clem, how's your arm?" Nick asked. I groaned and looked at it angrily.

"I know what people mean by ghost limbs. It feels like my hand's still there." Nick chuckled at my remark. "But it should be burning and searing in pain, not so pathetic. It does hurt just not enough." Nick came over and crouched by me.

"But now you could totally get a hook. You could be pirate Clementine, captain of the S.S Walker Slayer, with Nick as first mate." I giggled and shook my head. "Yeah, the hooks not a great idea."

"No, you'd be the ship's navigator, Luke's first mate." Nick laughed quietly along with me.

"Why's Luke get to be first mate?" He whined.

"Because I'm captain and what I say, goes." Nick saluted me quickly. "No Nick, pirates don't salute." He smiled and took his hand down.

"You're right Clem, that's the army. Pirates say 'Arr' and 'Me Hearty' not salute. Sorry for my inaccuracies Clementine." I giggled when Luke groaned.

"As adorable as this is I still need sleep." Nick rolled his eyes and went back to his bed. He quickly waved goodbye as he closed his eyes. I rolled onto my back and let sleep embrace me.

**Dream World**

_I looked at the area around me. I saw we were on a pirate ship with Luke and Nick. They were in pirate uniform when they noticed me. They came over and gave me their best yars._

"_Ok boys, we have a lot of looting to do and I see that ship looks ready for picking." I called to both my members. They nodded and got ready to fire upon the enemy ship. It had a large fox as their captain._

"_Ye never loot this here ship of pizzas!" He called, swinging across to invade our ship. Luke grabbed out his sword and took a swipe at the fox who parried in turn. A large boom rocked the ship as it started to take fire from the enemy._

"_We might need to steal their ship!" Nick called, also grabbing his sword. I went to grab mine when another explosion knocked me overboard. As I fell I saw a strange yellow bear smiling at me as I hit the water. I swam quickly upwards when something grabbed my leg. It was a large shark._

"_Ger o ma." I gurgled, punching it repeatedly. It never let go and began to drag me deeper, away from the battle. I felt my lungs collapsing and my head feeling rather light. I slowly shut my eyes and the shark let go._

**Reality**

I woke up gasping for breath. My lungs were empty but the problem was not that. It was that nobody tried to wake me up. They were all still asleep. The next thing I did was the only thing I could think of. I began to cry. I tried to keep my crying quiet but soon everyone was waking up.

"What's the matter sweet pea?" Lee asked shuffling closer to me. I moved into his arms and continued to cry. "Shh it's ok I'm here."

"I had a dream… and… and nobody woke me up… I felt like I was dying." I cried harder. Everyone looked rather shocked at the news.

"Almost died? How?" Luke asked suddenly. I tried to calm myself and took a few deep breathes.

"I can't remember what happened exactly… but I couldn't breathe. I think I was drowning and when I woke up I felt my chest burning." I wiped my nose and my eyes getting rid of all of the tears.

"My god we really need help. We can't just continue to wake her up she needs sleep. Fuck how do we go about this?" Pete asked. Omid scratched his head and came over.

"My neighbour said his kid had this happen before. Fuck I should have listened." Omid dropped his head in disappointment.

"It's ok sweety, you never thought you'd need to know that." Christa comforted his anger and sadness. Everyone in turn chucked around ideas but none of them were too helpful. I tried to drone out the noise and just think. Whenever I had nightmares my dad would always read me a happy story before bed. Would that really work?

"My dad would read me a happy story after I had nightmares and they went away. Do you think that could work here?" Carlos thought about it and paced slowly back and forth.

"I have heard of that yes. But never used on something this severe. Then again I've only heard of this happening to you. When did these horrific nightmares begin?" Carlos questioned me. I thought about it until I suddenly remembered.

"After I… killed the stranger." I mumbled. Carlos nodded his head and thought some more.

"Maybe that event was so frightening for you that it's left a horrible scar in your mind, causing these terrible nightmares." He scratched the back of his head and continued his thoughts.

"Can the thoughts be stopped?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders which wasn't much of an answer for me. Rochelle burst into the room and looked rather stressed.

"One of those guys with Eristien is outside. We got to get moving." Everyone rushed to get their stuff when Troy stepped forth.

"Why not just shoot him? And what about Caine? He's still out there." Carley winced at the mention of Caine. Everyone else stopped as well.

"Who knows how close the others are. They could be just down the street waiting for him to come back any second. Let's just go while we still can." Chuck came forth with a counter offer.

"What if we killed him and left as well. Our group has silencers remember? A quick pop to the head and then we trek on foot. As for Caine we'll just have to keep an eye out and hope for the best." We heard footsteps on the roof and a voice called down.

"It's fine I never left, I was always on the roof." Caine called. Everyone looked quite annoyed now.

"You asshole you had us all worried." Carley called up to him. Caine hopped to the ground firing a shot. He had a silencer as well and hopped in through the open window.

"Look I don't know about you lot but I'm going to look for Eristien. Do you not remember what he did?" He gestured to my hand which I then hid from view. "I don't care what you say I'm killing that German fuck." He stormed out but I could see Rochelle follow him.

"Fuck he's going to get killed." Kenny mumbled. Everyone grabbed their weapons and soon followed him outside. "Hey asshole, if you're going at least let us come too." Caine sighed and let us catch up.

"We have a bit of ground to over so…" Carlos interrupted him.

"Sorry Caine but I'm not letting you bring Sarah, Carley or Clementine on this trip. I'm staying behind to watch them but I'd like an extra hand." Carlos stated. Caine nodded in approval when Nick came forth.

"I'll stay back too. Come on Clem." He grabbed my shoulder and led us back but just before we went inside we heard someone else.

"I'm staying back too. You don't need that many people anyway." Helen rushed to us and followed us inside. Caine, Rebecca, Pete, Luke, Lee, Kenny, Chuck, Omid, Christa and Rochelle all headed off to find the asshole that cut off my hand.

"I would have preferred Rebecca stay back as well but what she says goes." Nick grumbled. We all took seats on the beds around us but Carley lay down instead. The others shared little conversations between one another when we heard noticeable gunshots in the distance.

"I hope everyone will be ok." Sarah said. Everybody nodded in agreement and waited for the gunfire to stop. It went on for quite some time which worried me. It only stopped after around ten minutes. "That was too long, I'm worried." Carlos comforted Sarah.

"I'm sure it's fine Sarah." Sarah nodded slowly but still looked unsure of her father. "So Clementine, feel like changing that bandage?" He asked. I sighed and moved over to him. He got to work quickly, unwinding the bandage and cleaning the wound as fast as he could. It hurt like hell and I screamed a couple of times before Carlos shoved a pillow in my face. I knew he wasn't being rude so I screamed into the pillow.

"Carlos, are you sure that's how you do it?" Carley inquired. Carlos nodded quickly and got to work re-bandaging it.

"It'll be fine Carley, you're next." Carley gulped and looked at her leg. Carlos came over to her and slowly repeated the process. Carley took her own pillow to her face and I could hear her muffled screams. "The wounds don't look badly infected but we can never be too sure."

"Huh, no kidding doc." Nick grumbled. Carlos finished up on Carley and she slowly took the pillow from her face. We heard a banging at the front door. Nick got up and looked out the window. "It's just a lone walker. Nothing to…" We heard a window smash out back and more banging. "Shit." Helen and Nick rushed to the back of the house and we heard them both yell out.

"A small herd is out back, we have to go!" Helen cried. Carley looked very worried at her leg. "We can get Nick and I to carry you let's just get moving." We grabbed what little we had and nick grabbed one of Carley's arms while Helen took her other.

"We should go to where the group headed off to. We may have a chance to find them there. We rushed out front when two walkers snuck up on us. One grabbed Sarah while the other grabbed Nick. Carley practically dragged Helen to the ground while Carlos tripped over something. I pulled out my gun quickly enough but had to shoot one quickly. But which one?

**Well what a lovely cliff-hanger. Who will Clementine choose to save? A very kind man to her or a kid a lot older than her? You have no say in the outcome and it's pre-determined but who do you think she should save anyway? Who do you think?**


	8. Escape Plan? But Plans?

**Hey there. I'm back from my break. I may not be able to continue until Christmas because I'll likely have to hand this laptop back to the school. Yeah I have a hired laptop from the school and have been using it to write my stories. Whatever though. Let's get this underway. Who will Clementine save? Nick or Sarah?**

With Carley and Helen tumbled upon one another and Carlos dazed from tripping over a log I didn't have much chance to save both Nick and Sarah. I aimed my pistol at the walker and pulled the trigger.

"Sorry Nick." I whispered as Sarah's walker fell to the ground. Nick's walker took him to the ground and prepared to sink its teeth into his neck when Carlos shoved it off. I shot that walker too and rushed to Nick. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Clementine." He breathed. Carlos helped up Carley while Helen took her side with Carlos. We got moving again, Nick trying to guide Sarah with my help. We were running towards where the group last headed. "It's alright Clem, you made the right choice." Nick assured me as we ran.

"I guess, but it still made me feel bad for almost getting you killed." I moaned. He put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"It makes sense. Sarah still has a lot more left to live for." I wasn't so sure. It kind of made sense but Nick was also still young. I decided to let it slide for now and just focus on getting away from the herd.

"Oh shit." Helen cursed. We could see some bodies in front of us that were recently human. The other St John brother was there. What's his name, Danny? There were two others as well. I could see Omid and Kenny as well. "I'm sorry Clementine but we have to keep moving." Helen grabbed my arm and pulled me along. I felt so bad for Omid and Kenny. Mostly Christa though. She's lost the man she loved now.

"Fuck where are they?" Nick panicked. We looked around frantically when I saw something on the ground. It looked like a couple shoe prints leading off in another direction as if they were running.

"There's some footprints, might be them." I pointed out. We had no better idea so we went off in the direction of the footprints. "Please be ok Lee." I whispered to the air. I just hoped Lee would be fine. He would never just run off would he? Not without me.

"Over here sweet pea!" I heard Lee call. I stopped dead and found him over by a building to my right. We all veered in the direction and followed him hurriedly inside. He shut the door and panted heavily. "Why did you come looking?" He questioned Nick rather disappointedly.

"Hey man, a herd tried to break in, we didn't have much choice. I'm sorry." He tried to stop himself from yelling and tried to calm himself. Lee held up his hands in surrender.

"Hey I'm not blaming you I just wanted to know why that's all." Nick strolled past him and called out Pete's name. "Nick, Pete's not here." Nick stared at him in disbelief. "We got separated when we had to get away from walkers. Christa, Rebecca, Luke, Rochelle and Pete went one way, Chuck, Caine and I holed up in here. I think the others are doubling back to the house."

"If they are we need to get back fast." Nick urged. Carley looked at him in disbelief. "Alright, Lee, Caine and I will go. The rest of you try keep really quiet in here. We'll be back soon." Nick, Caine and Lee grabbed their guns and went to leave when I stopped them.

"I'm not staying behind. I don't care if I'm missing a hand I'm coming." Lee looked at me unsure whether to let me come.

"She still has one hand mate, if she's fit to go I say let the kid." Caine muttered. Lee relented and waved me over. We all rushed outside and ran as fast as we could back to the house. As we got closer we slowed down to sneak to the house.

"Ok, Caine you get on the roof if you can, keep watch." Lee whispered. Caine nodded his head and leapt at the edge of the nearest roof and hopped over to the nest house, then the next until he was on the house we were staying at before.

"OK, Lee and I will sneak round back to check…" The door burst open with Rebecca standing there in the open doorway. "Becca?" Nick stared at her happily. "You're ok!"

"Of course I am Nick. I heard something hit the roof, I assume it's Caine again." She shook her head angrily. "The others are waiting with us inside. Come on let's get the hell out of this suburb." We followed her inside and found everybody was there.

"Christa!" I ran forth and hugged her. She was crying and I began to cry with her. "Omid…" She shushed me and rubbed my back.

"I know darling, I can't believe it either." We embraced a while longer before separating to leave this place. We'd begun our trek back with ease. Nobody else was hurt. There were no walkers. All seemed too easy. I kept glancing around nervously expecting some walker to come out of nowhere.

"Clem, you're really jumpy aren't you? You need to relax, nothing is going to sneak up on anyone, there's nothing around." Nick attempted to calm my jitters. It didn't help.

"That's just it, when things go too easy there's going to be some complication to tear us apart. We found each other again too easily." I snatched a look behind me but the road was still empty.

"It's fine sweet pea, this isn't a movie." Lee also tried to calm me. I noticed my other hand had begun to shake, well more vibrate. It was moving on its own. I tried to get it to stop but it would not. "Honey, are you shaking?" Lee asked. I shoved my hand behind my back quickly and smiled.

"No… Lee. I'm fine." I lied through my teeth. Lee saw through my façade and approached me. "Lee? I told you I'm fine…" He grabbed my arm unexpectedly and held it out to have a better look. "Lee?"

"Sorry darling, I was afraid. I thought you were hiding a bite." He breathed a sigh of relief but then he noticed something with my skin. "Pete, come here a second." Pete approached us and stood waiting to see what Lee saw. "Does her skin look yellow to you?"

"Holy shit…" Pete murmured. I widened my eyes and looked at my skin. It was paler then usual and had a slight yellow tinge to it. I held my lopped arm out in front of me and saw my veins had gone a greenish colour around the stump.

"Holy fuck what's wrong with her?" Nick panicked. Lee scooped me in his arms and ran as fast as he could back to Carlos. Carlos would know what to do right? He basically kicked down the door and placed me on the couch next to Carlos.

"Dear god was she bitten?" Carlos asked concerned. Lee shook his head. "I'll… see what I can do but…" He paused and looked up at Lee. "…the same thing is happening to Carley. I thought it was because she was bitten but now…" Lee ran into the room Carlos kept Carley in.

"Carlos… am I… going to die?" I slurred. Carlos shook his head fiercely. He got to work inspecting my stump to get a better look, to see if it was infected. He placed it down and saw my eyes were rimmed with yellow. "I feel… like I might…" I threw up, spilling my vomit all down my legs. "What a mess." I chuckled.

"Clementine, you're going to be ok I just…" He fetched some antibiotics and made me swallow a couple. I groaned and lay my head against the couch. My head was throbbing and my body was burning. I felt like I was laying on nothing but air.

"Did you even help her?" Lee yelled at Carlos, shoving him backwards. Carlos steadied himself and looked Lee dead in the eye.

"Of course I did! I did my best, changed her bandages and gave her some antibiotics." Lee stared for a few more seconds before returning to Carley's room. I entered a coughing fit and threw up again gaining Carlos's attention.

"Carlos… I can't… feel anything…" I tried to tell him, which was rather difficult. I felt breathless now, like there was no oxygen in the air. Carlos sighed and lifted me up, carrying me to a separate room. He began to take off my clothes which I panicked to. "What… are you…?"

"Shush now, it'll be ok. I'm just getting you out of your vomit covered clothes." He threw them into a pile and went searching for some other clothes. He found some and tried to fit them onto me. "These are the best I could find."

**No Point Of View**

Carlos had finished putting her in her new clothes when Lee snuck in the room. He just gaped at what he saw before him. From his point of view he saw Clementine's clothes on the ground and Carlos standing over her. Lee couldn't see Clementine properly but he just assumed Carlos was taking advantage of her.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Lee demanded. Carlos jumped in shock at Lee's sudden voice. Lee now saw Clementine with some new clothes on her body. Lee didn't find this any better then what he first assumed. "You went and undressed my girl?" He shoved the doctor backwards in rage.

"Calm down Lee, I know you care for this girl a lot but I had to get her out of those vomit stained clothes." He countered. Lee continued to glare at the Hispanic man before looking back at his sleeping girl. Caine burst in and looked between them.

"Ok, I see. I know what you're feeling Lee, I truly do but…" Lee turned to him and glared.

"Do you really? Do you? You wouldn't know what it's like to have a kid; you're too young to have had one." Caine snarled at Lee and went to punch him but calmed himself quickly.

"Don't I know huh? I lost my fucking kid alright? I don't give a fuck! So what, I had her at sixteen alright? So what I never got married? Just because the mother abandoned the child when she was born! I had to look after Marilyn all alone for six fucking years before she was b…" He rubbed the tears from his eyes. "What makes you think you should look after that girl Lee Everett. A convicted killer who never had kids!" Carlos looked at Lee then back at Caine. Lee had begun to lower his head.

"You were a convicted killer?" Carlos asked Lee. He nodded slowly and looked back up at Caine.

"You think I don't know what this was like. You never had a kid, I did." Caine left the room in a hurry. There was a gathering outside the room as he left. Rochelle looked at him sadly and sighed.

"Well at least we know who Marilyn was now I guess." Rochelle muttered to nobody in particular. Everybody dispersed while Carlos just continued to stand there. Rochelle entered the room and looked between Lee and Carlos. "Look, I don't care what happens now but nobody else heard the bit about Lee being a murderer. I was there before anyone else so you two work it out." Rochelle left the two men where they stood.

**Later that afternoon**

**Clementine**

I was woken by a loud crack. I groaned and sat up to look at the room around me. It was dark except for a sliver of light shining between the curtains to my right. To my left I saw a pile of clothes with quite a bit of vomit all over them. They were my clothes. Did I really throw up on myself? I tried to speak but no words came to my throat.

"I'm fucking sorry but it was too late!" I heard a voice yell from outside my room. I rubbed my head and tried to move my legs. They would not obey me and kept stiff. I looked at my skin which had actually gone a shade of green.

"You didn't have to do it now!" Lee yelled. I think he might be arguing with Carlos again. There was another voice but I couldn't hear them properly. "Well are you going to shoot my little girl next?"

"She's not even your child any more than mine or Nicks!" Carlos yelled back. I heard two lots of footsteps storm off while another came to my door. Carlos entered the room and saw me on the bed. "Oh my god Clementine, you look worse than Carley did." He rushed to my side and felt my head.

"How's she doing?" Nick asked Carlos. I didn't realise he'd snuck into the room. Carlos sighed and got up from his crouch.

"I have no clue, she looks worse than Carley did." He gave me some more medicine and sat on the chair beside my bed. "Lee just doesn't get it, I'm tried to help her, and I'm helping Clementine here, why can't he just see that?"

"He's just being protective. You're still a stranger to him." Carlos muttered something inaudible and left me and Nick alone in the room. Nick took his place next to me on the bed. "How're you doing kid?" Nick asked me. I tried to respond but I couldn't even make a sound. "You ok?" I shook my head slowly and rubbed my throat. "I'm sorry Clem but I think Lee's kind of starting to lose it. After losing you to two psychos, Kenny, Carley…it's becoming too much in such a short time. He's broken Clementine." I saw Lee standing at the doorway menacingly.

"I'm what Nick?" He growled darkly. Nick cursed and hopped up from his place on the bed. Lee advanced slowly and curled his hand into a fist. "You don't know how far I'd go to protect this girl."

"Come on now Lee, you're better than this." Nick held up his hands slowly. I tried to move to stop Lee but I still couldn't move. Lee took a swipe at Nick but he dodged it. He didn't fight back because he didn't look like he wanted to hurt Lee. Lee kept swinging some punches at Nick but failed to strike a blow.

"Stand still you little fuck." Lee connected his fist with Nick's jaw. I tried to scream for him to stop but it came out as a horrific screech of sorts. It was quiet but it was enough to get Lee to turn around. When he did, Nick wrapped his arm around Lee's neck and began to choke him slowly.

"I'm so sorry Lee but I can't let you do this." Lee struggled against his grip but he only tightened. Lee began to lose consciousness so when he did, Nick let go. He was still breathing so Nick rolled him under the bed and breathed a sigh of relief. Christa came into the room and looked at Nick oddly.

"I thought I heard something going on in here, where's Lee?" Nick tried to act unsuspicously and shrugged.

"I think I saw him go outside for some air, said he'd be back at dark. I told him not to stay out that late but I don't know." Christa looked at him suspiciously but seemed to buy his story.

"Ok then… will you take shift tonight?" She asked Nick. Nick almost smiled and nodded his head. "Good, everybody else is crazy tired." She left the room so Nick let out a sigh of relief.

"We have to get the hell out of here Clem, I don't know about you but Lee is fucking losing it. I don't care what you choose but I'm getting my group out. I'm going to have to get the information to them." I just stared at him the entire time because I couldn't speak. He left the room leaving me sitting with Lee tucked under my bed.

**Late that night**

I could mumble words by now but it was somewhat difficult. I heard footsteps in my room and found Luke sneaking into my room.

"Clem?" He hissed. He snuck closer to my bed when I rose to show I was up. "Can you speak yet?" I shook my head. I knew I could but I couldn't whisper. "Damn, hope it's not permanent." He looked behind him to make sure nobody else was there. "You coming with us?" I looked at him then back at my hand.

"Yes." I croaked. Luke widened his eyes and checked behind him to see if anybody was there. My voice was rather loud because I couldn't lower it. He sighed and scooped me into his arms slowly.

"Nick's got everyone else packed outside. Pete, Helena, Rebecca, Caine, Nick you and me. Nobody else. I know you liked everyone else but…" He snuck out of my room and out the front door. Everybody else was waiting out there.

"Shit you're bringing her?" Rebecca hissed. Luke glared at her and so did Nick.

"Why the hell not? We can't leave her with him, he's fucking going crazy." Luke countered. Rebecca rolled her eyes and got moving with the rest of us. Luke took me over to two parked vehicles.

"These were owned by Eristien's men. Only Eristien made it out alive but he didn't take these." Pete explained to me. Pete, Nick, Helen and I were put in one, Rebecca, Luke and Caine in the other.

"Let's get the hell out of here." Nick said. Pete started the car and got moving, being followed by the other car behind us. "We have enough fuel to end up a very far distance from that group. We're heading north; we may need to lose the cars eventually." Nick explained their plan.

"Welcome to our little family Clem." Pete smiled to us from behind the wheel. I just closed my eyes to get some sleep, forgetting the nightmares I usually had.

**I'm sorry but even though I brought Lee back I realised I never truly wanted him back so I had to get rid of him somehow. Now it's just the cabin group minus Alvin. So this will be my last chapter for now, until I get a new laptop. Until then… Merry Christmas and go do… something?**

**Update: I just realised I have the potential to turn Lee into a villain! What do you guys think?**


	9. New Home

**OK here we are guys. Welcome back to the next chapter of Innocence! It's been too long hasn't it? Well even I had to go back and read the last thing that happened to remember exactly. So there is a possibility of Lee becoming a sort of villain. Don't be surprised when it happens ok? Let's go bitches! This was meant to be posted two days ago but a certain webcomic and a certain game distracted me. So sorry! At least I've finished Dumbing Of Age now so... more time to focus.**

**Clementine**

I rose from my uncomfortable sleep in the vehicle we were driving. It was a shame I only managed a mere two minutes of sleep. I rubbed my eyes slowly and looked at the people around me. Pete, Nick, Helena and me. Our little family of sorts. I groaned as my stump began to ache once more.

"What's the matter Clemmy?" Nick asked. I ignored what he called me and raised my stump up carefully.

"It kind of hurts. Just like a dull throb or an ache." I explained in my croaky voice. Nick nodded and grabbed a walkie talkie from his pocket.

"Hey guys, where are we headed then? I might need to know to direct Pete." He called into the device. The mere sight of a walkie talkie made me shiver. The last one I had in my possession got somebody killed. A lot of somebodies.

"Righto Nick, tell Clem I said hi. So we're just going north, no specific direction." Luke responded. I smiled slightly to hear his voice again. It's always nice to hear his voice. He was really nice.

"So we kinda have a problem mate." Caine spoke from the other end. Nick looked at it confused before responding.

"What's up?" Nick asked.

"We got... another vehicle following us. Shit if it's them again..." Caine grumbled. Pete pulled over along with Rebecca and we piled out quickly. Many of us took aim as the vehicle approached our position.

"Who's there? We ain't coming back!" Luke warned. It was kind of difficult to see them properly in the dark. The car doors opened as Troy and Rochelle stepped out with their hands up.

"Well shit it's just you two." Nick sighed. We lowered our weapons slowly as they came over. "We didn't bring you because we didn't know you well enough. We didn't bring Troy because he's a dick." Luke chuckled, earning a scowl from Troy.

"Enough, both of you. Look I'm not entirely sure why you left but I'm sure you had your reasons. We didn't really feel like hanging around too much longer. I never really liked them anyway." Rochelle said.

"Yeah, Lee went a little crazy and attacked Nick, we had to leg it." Caine shrugged. Rochelle nodded slowly as she observed everyone. Troy shifted uncomfortably.

"So I guess we could let you guys tag along, what harm could it do." Pete sighed. Nobody really agreed nor disagreed. Mostly because nobody was sure what to do with them.

"Well if it's fine with Peter it's fine with me." Helena said at last. At her words everyone began to slowly agree with her.

"So we'll just tag along at a distance. Chuck us the walkie Caine." Rochelle asked. Caine threw her a spare walkie talkie which she caught. We began to return to our vehicles and soon were underway once more.

"No you have got to be kidding me!" Nick cursed. We had been driving for a few short minutes before the cars seemed to just die. They both sputtered dead and there was no way we could all fit in the car Rochelle and Troy were in. It didn't matter anyway, there was a bridge that looked almost unpassable.

"Clementine can you see anything?" Carlos asked. I'd taken up postition on a boulder and scouted the area as best as I could.

"There's a small house by the bridge." I noted. It did look rather small, like a station house of sorts.

"How big is it?" Carlos asked. I tried to contain myself and replied with a straight face.

"The small house is bloody huge Carlos. It could fit a mining truck in its bedrooms." That earned a couple giggles from the group. Carlos smirked at my reply as I continued to search. "It's too hard to see too much else but I think there's a light at the top of the hill. Can't see anything else though."

"Well if that house is all we have then we better take it anyway." Luke shrugged. We all made our way over to the bridge when Luke stopped us. "Hang on, Pete and I will see if it's passable. You guys wait here." Nobody disagreed with his plan.

"I'll cover your backs." Nick nodded. Luke nodded in return as Pete and him began to cross the bridge. There was some wind picking up as a storm appraoched.

"Fucking rain." Caine muttered. There was no rain yet but where there's a storm there is likely rain to follow. We waited patiently for Luke and Pete to signal us. While we waited we decided to make a conversation.

"So things have been pretty rough huh?" Nick chuckled nervously. No arguments there. We lost Alvin and I lost my hand.

"Well this is a prime example." I croaked. I was really going to miss my hand. Carlos came over and crouched in front of me.

"Let me take a look at that. Need to make sure it's not infected anymore." I shivered at his words. It wasn't very green looking anymore and my voice was slowly getting better by the minute. "It seems alright but it's too difficult to know for sure. I'll do a proper analysis later when we're safe." I nodded a thank you to him.

"Damn I hate waiting. My back is killing me." Rebecca groaned as she sat down on a nearby rock. We continued to wait around until I noticed something. I reached for my binoculars and scouted what I saw.

"They lit a fire." I said as I spotted them by the fire with my binoculars. We carefully made our way slowly across the bridge without any problems. I saw a dead walker on the tracks and a large whole in the bridge with another walker dead. He must of fell through the hole.

"So do you think we'll find anything in that station house?" Nick asked the group. Nobody came up with an answer. We made it to the other side in a short time.

"Where's Pete?" Helen asked. I looked around and noticed only Luke standing by the small fire.

"Oh, he's searching the station house. It turns out those lights on this hill belong to a ski lodge. We can go up there, it'll be safer." Everybody groaned but agreed regardless. I didn't see a problem with walking a few more minutes to get safer.

"So you holding up alright Clem?" Luke asked. I nodded my head in response. I wanted to avoid using my voice.

"That man was seriously messed up. Nobody deserved that sort of treatment." Rochelle scowled. Everybody agreed with her.

"Look I know I'm not on good tabs with you lot since working with Carver but I had no idea what that guy had planned. He just said he needed something done, didn't explain anything." Troy confessed. Nobody looked happy about his presence.

"The past is the past, we can make up for that in time." Helena replied. Troy nodded slowly and rubbed the back of his neck. We heard Pete's voice come from the station house.

"Nothing in here but a bed and a trunk. Let's keep going. Be careful up there." Pete finally emerged from the station. We trudged slowly up the steep slope to reach the ski lodge.

"God damn I need a wheelchair or something for this much walking." Rebecca complained. I decided to come back with a witty joke.

"Good luck finding someone who'll be willing to push it." I giggled. Everyone else had small chuckles here and there. Rebecca sighed.

"Alvin would've." She mumbled. I felt instantly bad for what I'd said.

"I'm sorry Rebecca, I didn't mean it like that." I apologised. She gave me a reassuring smile.

"It's ok honey, I'll be ok." She assured. Once we got close to the top we heard a loud whirring sound.

"What is that?" Sarah asked. Carlos shrugged in response. When we made it we saw two men standing by a wind turbine.

"Damn it Walter it's too dark to see it properly. I think I... yes I got the key. But where's it go?" We appraoched cautiously. Carlos decided to speak up.

"Uh hello? You friendly?" The men turned around, one holding a rifle, to face us. We watched as he lowered his rifle slowly.

"Yeah but this thing is going to attract the dead if we don't shut it off. Got a light?" Caine came by and snatched the keys, turning the turbine off without even needing the light.

"I got good night eyes. Ain't that hard." Caine smirked. The man in the sweater approached us first.

"Hi, the name's Walter and this is Matthew. Look, we can let you in but we have to now, don't wanna attract the dead out here." We agreed as he lead us back to the ski lodge and opened the door. We piled in and looked around the now dark lodge.

"We had christmas lights but... yeah no power now." Matthew apologised. We heard another pair of footsteps coming down some stairs. We flicked on some torches and saw a young girl standing there.

"Hello there, who are you?" Rochelle asked. She stood there staring at us for a while. Matthew stepped forwards.

"It's ok, she gets nervous around people, especially men. Kind of hard since she stays with two. Kind of ironic." Matthew chuckled. The girl slowly stepped down the stairs and came over to me cautiously. She got real close before peering intently into my eyes.

"Uh... hello? You're kind of close there." I said nervously. She narrowed her eyes and nodded her head to Walter.

"She thinks you're alright to stay. Come over here then, just let her do her thing. You get used to it." One by one she slowly let us past. Carlos, Sarah, Rebecca, Luke, Nick, Pete, Helena and Rochelle. She shook her head when it came to Troy.

"What the fuck? Why not?" Troy demanded. His snappy voice caused the girl to jump in fright and quickly hide behind me. Why me, I have no idea.

"I have no clue man. What have you done recently?" Matthew shrugged. Caine smirked and mocked Troy silently. He stepped forth when the girl shook her head to Caine too.

"The fuck kid? I ain't listening to you, I don't even know what I've done to upset you." He stepped past her which she scowled to.

"Ok, I don't know what you two have done but she doesn't like it. I'm not going to send you out in the storm but I'm not going to give you a bed. You can have the couches, I wasn't sleeping anyway. Bedrooms are up there."Matthew explained. Caine seemed fine but I could see Troy was very angered by these terms.

"Come Sarah, Clem, let's get you to bed. Maybe I can check on you hand in there." Carlos urged. I complied and followed him as he escorted Sarah and I to one of the rooms. There was a large bed big enough for both me and Sarah.

"Daddy, are we safe in here?" Sarah asked him, giving her best puppy dog eyes. It was cute in a way. Carlos gave her a reassuring smile.

"Of course sweety. Now, to have a look at this wound." He lit a nearby candle and moved his way to my side of the bed. He inspected the wound area and checked my temperature. After a few more minutes he nodded his head in satisfaction. "You are mostly fine, you don't seem infected and your arm is healing nicely."

"Thanks Carlos." I smiled. He returned the smile.

"Goodnight girls. I'll come check up on you later tonight." Carlos departed leaving us to get to sleep.

"Night Clem." Sarah smiled. I returned her smile and nodded.

"Goodnight Sarah." She stared for a second before blushing and turning over to get to sleep. Well that was... odd. I brushed it off for now and lay down next to her hoping to get a good nights sleep.

**The next morning**

I groaned and rubbed my eyes slowly. I hissed when my stump connected with my eye. God damn it I've got to stop doing that. I rubbed just above it as I looked at the room around me. That was when it hit me. I didn't have one of those nightmares! Was it because I felt safe? Was it because of something Carlos did? Was it... Sarah? I looked at the sleeping girl beside me. She seemed so peacful and... beautiful? That seemed fitting but really strange at the same time. I shouldn't be thinking like that. I was interrupted by Carlos opening the door.

"Ah, you're awake Clementine." He whispered. I smiled to him and nodded a greeting. "How's that arm of yours? Feeling any better?" He inquired. I held my arm in front of me and examing it for a few seconds.

"It doesn't hurt as much anymore so that's a good sign I think." I shrugged. Carlos nodded when I noticed something in his hands. "What have you got there?" I asked excitedly. He smiled and held it out for me to see.

"I brought you two breakfast." He held out the two cans of peaches for us to take. I shook Sarah gently awake.

"Hmm? What is it?" She asked. I pointed to her father so he could hand her the can of peaches. "Peaches? I love peaches!" She lit up, taking the can from her fathers hands. I smiled and took my can as well. I grabbed the spoon he handed to us and dug right in.

"Girls, I have a little treat for you two when you finish. Matthew said they don't have much left but they would let you kids have some." We both widened our eyes and sped up our eating, eager to see what surprise Carlos had for us.

"Done." Sarah said with her mouth still full of peaches. I finished quickly after her and set my can down. Carlos shook his head in amusment and took out two chocolates. "No way." Sarah breathed.

"Yes way, it's all yours." Carlos smiled. We eagerly took them when Sarah ripped open her packet and stuffed it right in her mouth. I sat there and stared at the wrapper. Carlos took note of this and put a concerned look on his face. "What's the matter Clementine? Don't like chocolate?"

"No, I can't open it." I blushed. Sarah contained her laughter while Carlos smirked, taking it from my hands and unwrapping the vile plastic covering the treat. "Thanks." I blushed again before eagerly eating the chocolate in one go.

"Sorry, forgot about that." Carlos chuckled. I smiled stupidly and shrugged my shoudlers. Carlos got up and went to leave. "You two get dressed, I'll wait outside." Once he left the room Sarah got up and searched for a pair of clothes.

"Oh, this one's nice." She grinned. I found a pair as well and placed it onto the bed. Sarah took off her shirt when I turned away. "What's wrong Clem? You nervous?" She giggled. I shook my head quickly.

"I... don't have anything under my shirt." I blushed furiously. Sarah giggled again.

"Don't worry, I'll just turn around." She turned away and put on her own shirt. She took her jeans off as I took off my own shirt. I grabbed the other shirt and began to put it on. I felt eyes piercing into my back.

"You aren't looking are you?" I asked nervously. I heard Sarah gasp suddenly.

"What's that on your back?" She asked. I hurridely shoved the shirt on and turned to her with worry printed all over my face.

"Please don't tell anyone about what you just saw ok?" I begged. Sarah nodded her head slowly in response. "Pinky promise so I know you won't." I stated. She stuck her pinkie out so I wrapped mine around hers. "Pinky promises are forever, never forget that." I nodded. She returend the nod as I took off my jeans and replaced them with a pair of tacksuit pants.

"You done in there girls?" We heard Carlos call. I looked over at Sarah once more and she nodded to me. I breathed a sigh of relief and responded.

"Yeah, but I'll need something done about this sleeve." I called back. Carlos entered the room and saw what I meant. He couldn't help but grin once more. This missing hand was a really pain in the ass.

"I've got it." Carlos chuckled. He rolled the sleeve back a bit which I thanked him for. "Everyone else is discussing some things in the living room. Shall we join them?" Carlos asked. I nodded my head along with Sarah, but not before Sarah sent a worried glance my way once Carlos's back was turned.

**Well there we have it folks. A chapter for you guys to enjoy. I hope you like it because this is a good story, right? I don't know, is it? You guys tell me I guess. (Well it's late because of your Borderlands obsession. What's up with that?) Oh I don't know maybe you should shut the hell up Caine! (See! See! Too much Borderlands!) I don't even have that DLC! I want it so bad though.**


	10. Secrets

**And hello peoplesons! We are here with our next brillient chapter! I try to keep these coming out as fast as possible but sometimes shit just happens. So most of the time they are later then I previously wished them. With Nicks mother still alive he is obviously a lot happier and more prone to joking around. Also, forgive me if I accidentally mention Alvin, it's still hard getting used to the fact he's actually dead in this story. Anyway, let's just move onwards.**

**Clementine**

I left the room with Sarah and followed her father out to the living room. If it could really be considered one. The group was there discussing something or another so I headed over to listen to the discussion.

"We just want to know how long you're staying is all." Matthew replied. Obviously this wasn't going to be a nice discussion. Why can't people just get along for once?

"And I'm telling you, we don't know for sure. We need to know how close Rebecca's baby is then we can give you an answer. She may give birth at any day so until she does there is no answer." Rochelle groaned, running her hand through her hair. I came forth and put my piece in.

"If she's still a while away we may just leave tomorrow, but if she's close we may need to stay two weeks possibly. Plus, this was cut off recently and I am sick of walking." I complained, holding up my arm once more.

"Clem's right, I don't think it's right to have her walking again when she's still rather weak." Helena agreed. Matthew sighed and just rubbed his face.

"Fine, ok I can deal with this. I just... I need to clear my mind. I'm going for a walk." He grumbled. He grabbed his rifle and knife and headed out the door.

"Don't worry folks he often goes on long walks. Most of the time he actually just waits at that old station house." Walter assured. People began to disperse when Helena approached me.

"You doing ok Clementine? Your arm ok?" Helena asked. I nodded my head in approval.

"Should be asking about her back." I heard Sarah mumble. I hope I was the only one who heard that.

"Sorry what was that Sarah?" Helena asked. Sarah just shook her head. "Ok, thought you said something. Must be getting old." She smiled. I smiled in return, trying to hide my slight anger.

"Greetings mother." Nick grinned. Helena turned to her son and hugged him tightly.

"Morning Nick, how'd you sleep?" She asked in her usual motherly tone.

"I'm fine, I'm not a little kid. What about you Clem? You sleep well?" Nick asked. I smiled and nodded my head to him.

"Yeah, little complications this morning but you know, nothing I can't handle... wait... I couldn't." I giggled. Nick looked at me oddly for a second when Sarah filled him in.

"Dad had to roll her sleeve back for her." Sarah explained. Nick nodded his head and chuckled slightly.

"The downside to having only one hand I see." He grinned. I placed my hand on my hip and glared.

"Hey come on now you two, no fighting in front of your mother." She smirked. Nick rolled his eyes along with me. "What? There a problem with her being my official daughter?" She giggled.

"Other then she's too young to have a mother like you, no offence. She seems more my child." Nick joked. Helena nudged him and they both laughed quietly. I rolled my eyes again and left the two to their jokes. I bumped into Luke as I was looking back at them.

"Sorry kid was that my fault?" He asked concerned. I smiled and shook my head. "Good because I don't want to be blamed if I hurt you when it was your fault." He joked, ruffling my hair. I swatted his hand away with my own.

"Stop, I like to keep it neat, I'm getting sick of Rochelle always having to fix it because of you." I giggled. Luke returned my laugh and continued on his way to get something to eat.

"So I have to do it again do I?" Rochelle smirked. I turned around and found her standing their, hand on her hip with a hairbrush in hand.

"It wouldn't be that bad." I smiled. She guided me over to one of the dining room chairs and began to brush it all back into place. "Do you have any hair ties? The one's Lilly gave me are kind of snapped." I explained.

"Uh yeah I have some I don't use anymore." She rummeged in her pocket and grabbed out two. "There we are, got to finish brushing though." She finished up with brushing my hair and went to tie it back but stopped. "A little snip wouldn't be too bad don't you think?"

"I guess, it is getting a little too long." I shrugged. I heard her pull out scissors and begin to snip at sections of my hair slowly. After a few minutes she seemed satisfied with her work and tied the rest back as best she could.

"There, all good now. Not too long but not too short that you look like a boy." She smiled, getting up from her seat.

"So why do you happen to carry around scissors, hair ties and a brush?" I asked her. She put the things away and just smiled.

"A girl's got to be prepared. You never know what you might need. Scissors for stabbing, hair ties still come in handy and brushes... can be useful." She winked. I didn't get it and just gave her a confused look. "Right, still nine. I am not explaining that one. Also, don't mention that to anyone that last one was a joke I swear." She walked off leaving me more confused.

"Hey Clem, what's up with you?" Nick asked. I just pondered whether to tell him or not.

"Well, Rochelle mentioned why she carried around her hair care supplies. Scissors for stabbing, hair ties for many uses and hair brushes 'can be useful' as she put it. What did she mean?" I asked him. He could barely contain himself and burst out into laughter, attracting Helena's attention.

"What's going on here Nick?" She asked. Nick went over to her and whispered what I had told him. For some reason she began to burst into laughter about.

"Clementine! I said that last one was a joke!" I heard a Rochelle call from her room. The two just continued laughing and ended up just leaving me, confused as ever.

"What happened here?" Carlos asked, looking amused. I just stared blankly ahead.

"I have no clue." I just murmered. Carlos looked around suddenly and sat beside me. This kind of worried me a bit.

"Clementine, don't be mad at Sarah she never told me. I've actually seen what's on your back, when you were unconcious back at the house. I changed your clothes and I saw it. Mind explaining that to me?" He whispered. I widened my eyes in shock and just whispered back.

"You can't let anybody know, especially Nick. He'll probably get really mad. Please Carlos." I begged. He sighed and nodded in agreement. At that he left the table when I grabbed his shirt. "I'll tell you what happened, but never let anyone know... ever." I demanded. I explained everything to him, I even didn't stop when Rochelle began yelling at Nick.

**Rochelle**

Stupid, stupid, stupid. That's what you get for telling a joke. One moment you're telling an nine year old a sex joke and the next you have Nick's idea of a joke in return. If he knew just how much I would hurt him if the kids weren't around... dang it!

"You think it's funny leaving a vibrator at my door?" I yell to Nick, who's cracking up downstairs. "Where'd you even find one of these?" I demand, tromping down the stairs. The whole ski lodge is looking on, either in curiosity at whats happening or laughing at the knowledge of what's happening.

"Come on Rochelle, just use it and you'll be calm." He laughed. I raised it up and threatened to beat him with it. Imagine that, being beaten to death by a vibrator.

"I told her it was a joke, I even yelled it to you, I do not use this stupid devices!" I spat in his face, gesturing to the kid in conversation with Carlos. As angry as I was I was actually finding it hard not to crack a smile. Pete decided to come over and defuse the situation.

"Now calm down Rochelle. Nick..." Pete slapped the back of Nick's head earning a yelp of pain from Nick. "... don't be such a dick all the time." He sighed. Nick rubbed the back of his head but still couldn't wipe that stupid smile off his face.

"I swear if you do this one more time..." I didn't finish the setence and just rushed back upstairs when I heard Helena's voice.

"So why are you bringing that up with you then?" She giggled. I looked at the device in my hand and just cast it over the side. "Don't break it, you'll need it later!" She laughed. I decided to calm myself down in my own, special way. A good hard slap to the face.

"No clue why that actually works." I chuckled. I didn't know why but when I get a slap to the face I just calm down. I first found it out when my darn father was pushing me around, he was angering me so much. Then he slapped me and it just bubbled away. The same happened at school. I was freaking out one time and my friend slapped me and I was fine.

"You right now? Slapped yourself already?" Caine smirked. I sighed and nodded my head, turning to him.

"I think I'm ready now." I nodded. Caine locked the door behind him and looked nervous.

"You sure, there's no going back after this." He asked. I just nodded my head in approval. "Never thought you'd actually agree, you know, because of who you are." He sighed, setting his hat down.

**Clementine**

I took a deep breath and gauged his reaction. I could see he was visibly disgusted but he was trying to hide it as best he could. I just hung my head down in shame and covered my face.

"Clementine... you've been through more then I thought. You're only nine and you've had to kill a man, put your trust in strangers, lost your hand, survive an unknown illness, lost your friend, and now..." I cut him off with a quick glare. "Right, sorry. I won't say a word, I promise."

"Thanks Carlos, I don't know what I would do if the others found out." I shrugged. He nodded his head and got up from his place and went over to his daughter. It felt marginally better to have him know what's going on.

"Why is your family so sick minded?" I heard Luke laugh. I glanced up and saw him messing with Nick and Helena's hair. They both smirked and grabbed his arms, practically throwing him over their shoulders.

"Because they ain't Randell. Once she lost the name she went lame in the brain." Pete chuckled. Helena shot him a look and I couldn't help but smile. They were always such a loving family, it's sometimes hard to be around knowing mine's... walking.

"So you're telling me my husband is a dope too? Well you got that right." Helena shoved Pete playfully. Pete cracked a smile while Luke and Nick looked to be wrestling of sorts. Eventually Rebecca came over to calm them down.

"We can't have you all being so loud and crazy, some of us need a lot of sleep. I still got a baby on the way." Rebecca stated. They calmed down quickly and apologised with smiles on their faces. Rebecca went back to her room and suddenly grabbed her head. She seemed dizzy all of a sudden when Troy did the most surprising thing.

"Becca, need any help?" He offered. She stared blankly at him for a second before nodding her head. He helped support her back to her room. Everybody just looked on rather surprised at Troy's sudden action. "What? Can't a guy be kind once in a while?" He scoffed, going back to his usual self.

"Hey guys, there's some walkers approaching the lodge. Who wants to take them out?" Luke alerted the group. Nick and Troy grabbed some weapons and followed Luke outside. I followed too but merely to observe.

"Ok, I got these two." Troy stated. He headed to the nearest two and whacked his hatchet into the nearest skull. He wrenched it out and smashed the other but only managed to cut its jaw off. He recovered quick enough to smash it's brains with the blade.

"I bet I could do better with my machete." Luke grabbed his large blade and swung it into a walkers head, shoving it back away with his foot. He then did a spin and cut the others head in one clean sweep. He did a quick bow which earned a slow clap from Nick.

"Not bad, these two are mine." Nick smirked. He approached the nearest walker with a screwdriver and shoved it straight into its eye. It fell and he knocked the knee of the next one with his foot. While it was down he stabbed the back of its head.

"I would say Troy was the swiftest, Luke was the most elegent, while Nick's was the cleanest. But it's not a competition." I clapped. There was still a couple more walkers so they quickly hacked into them with their blades and screwdriver. The walkers were soon dealt with and they began to drag their corpses away.

"Hey kid, wouldn't mind a hand with these." Troy called to me. I gave him a look and thrust my stump into the air. "Yeah you can still drag the skinnier ones without too much help." He rolled his eyes. I returned his eye roll with one of my own and grabbed ones hand, dragging it away.

"Well this isn't so hard, this one's practically a skeleton." I joked. I saw something twitch which immiediatly caught my attention. I swear its fingers twitched sligthly. I peered a little closer when the thing finally opened its mouth to snap at me, barely moving the rest of its body. "Ah!"

"Clem? What's wrong?" Nick asked, rushing to me. I had dropped the body as Nick saw it trying to snap its jaws at us. It wasn't moving very much, barely being able to lift its arms. The looked limp and very fragile. "I think this one's just been out here a while. I guess Walt and Matt just never really finished off the lurkers." Nick sighed, putting it down at last.

"Everything alright out here?" Pete called from the door.

"Yeah, just one wasn't quite so dead." Nick replied. Pete gave a nod and made his way back inside. I calmed myself and grabbed one with its brain clearly all over the dirt. I grabbed hold and dragged it off to the pile the others were creating.

"If nobody minds I'm going to head down to that station house Matthew's at, spend some time down there." Luke stated. I heard Troy talking to him quickly when Helena rushed out of the ski lodge.

"Nick, you won't believe what I'm hearing." Helena called, rushing to Nick and dragging him back inside. I rushed after them, eager to hear about whatever made her this way. Soon we ended up outside Rochelle's door to hear two voices.

"Stop moving around so much, this isn't my first time you know but it doesn't make it any easier." I heard Rochelle say. This earned a smile from Nick.

"I'm sorry, just... ow! Be gentler. It hurts when you go too quickly." I heard Caine reply. I just felt my face going instantly red as Nick and Helena trying to hold their laughter.

"Imagine what the others would think if they found out. Nick would never let us live it down." Rochelle chuckled, suddenly hissing in pain.

"What, did I do something wrong?" Caine asked. Helena pulled Nick away so I followed quickly, eager to leave the embarresing situation.

"See, I told you it was going to happen." Helena giggled. Nick soon couldn't contain himself any longer and burst into laughter, but kept it down as best he could.

"Clementine... you really shouldn't have followed... but now your face is so red." Nick said between laughing. I just got redder and redder as they both laughed. Pete came up behind them and smacked the back of both their heads.

"You two are getting a little too out of hand. I need you two to stop with this now or neither of you are sleeping in a bed tonight." Pete ordered sternly. Nick and Helena nodded quickly and headed off to do whatever they did.

"Hey Clementine, come here." I heard Sarah call. I saw her by the dining area so made my way over to see what she wanted. She had her book with her and couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah Sarah, what is it?" I asked. She held the book out for me to take. I took it and had a look at it carefully, as if there was some secret I was meant to spot. "It's a book?"

"More then just a book, it's Skulduggery Pleasent. The best skeleton detective ever. He's funny, smart and fights crime." She smiled. I looked the book over and had a look at the skeleton on the front cover. He looked like he'd clicked his fingers to summon fire. It looked kind of cool.

"I would read it but... well I can't read very well. I was in first grade when it began so I'm not the best." I admitted, blushing slightly. Sarah nodded her head understandingly and took the book back, turning to the first page.

"Ok, what if I read it out loud to you?" She offered. She seemed cute with these innocent actions but I turned her offer down.

"Maybe some other time ok? I got stuff to do." I was going to leave when I heard her say something.

"Is it about...?" I turned to give her a quick glare to keep her quiet. She got the message and just shut her mouth. Carlos noticed my glare and sent me one in return. I ignored it and turned bumping into Walter.

"Hey Clementine, could I speak to you for a minute, you're not in trouble." He assured. I nodded and followed him outside. We passed Troy on the way out which Walter gave a quick greeting and continued. Luke must have gone to the station.

"What is it you wanted to speak to me about?" I asked. Knowing I wouldn't be in trouble made me feel calm.

"Well... it's about what Sarah was about to say." He confessed. I tried to hide the panic that crossed my face. "Look, you may not trust me but you can tell me and I promise I won't tell anyone else." I shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortably.

"I... I don't know. I already told Carlos so..." He got the message and just nodded his head.

"It's ok Clementine, I'm not forcing you into anything. As long as it doesn't put this group at risk I don't mind." He smiled. I offered a small smile in return as we made our way back inside.

**Rochelle**

I lay next to Caine, smiling slightly at what had just transpired. I can't believe we had just done that. After all we've been through... what would the others think? I felt Caine move beside me.

"Well that was... different but not... bad." He smirked. I only rubbed my face and sat up.

"I don't know, what will everyone say if they found out? Nick is going to make so many horrible jokes." I groaned. Caine grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him.

"Hey, don't worry. We're in this together. You're like a sister to me." He smiled, kissing the top of my head. I smiled in return and nodded my head.

"You're right, to heck with Nick." I smirked. Caine chuckled and slipped on his jacket and hat.

"Well, see you round." He grinned, sending a wink my way. "Also, get a tougher shirt, you ripped yours." He said as he departed.

**Whoa, I'll let that moment sink in for you guys. So now we have two mysteries here. The main one being... what is on Clementines back and why? I want to hear your theories so tell me in your reviews. Be creative if you can, there are a few possibilites.**


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